A Year Cut Short

Seniors enjoyed a day at Cave Point and Whitefish Dunes in the fall. Typically seniors would go on a senior-class trip during the spring as well, but because of the pandemic, their fall trip may have been the last one they take together. Submitted.

The Peninsula Pulse has dedicated a page in each issue from April 24 – May 22 for the students of each Door County high school. This week we feature the work of Sevastopol student journalists.

by Maggie Ripp, Junior, Co-editor, The Pioneer Chips

In the midst of the pandemic, schools were shut down, jobs were lost, and life as we know it stopped. The event cancellations across the country seem to be a trivial thing to worry about in such a tense atmosphere. However, with nothing to do but dwell within their own minds, the members of the Class of 2020 are reflecting on lost traditions and last chances of their high school career.

In exchange for the privilege of being able to use the restroom at any time and sleeping until noon, seniors left their last days of high school with little closure surrounding their last sports season, last class with their favorite teacher and last hallway conversation with friends. Elizebeth Fiscus was looking forward to her last track season, when she hoped to finally achieve her goals.

“I wanted to be exhausted after a track workout, to be terrified at regionals and even more so at state,” Fiscus said. “I wanted to finally break the school record, and I wanted to get first.”

Students now reminisce about their last days in school from their bedrooms as they finish school online in solitude. 

“I miss the little snake in Mr. Marggraf’s classroom,” Madisen Duginski said. “I miss being able to interact with people in general.”

Many seniors miss the simplicity of high school – something they may not have always realized. Teachers’ smiling faces popping into hallways and the banging of lockers all seemed to end too quickly. 

“I miss the caring environment the teachers fostered within their classrooms, where everybody learned together, and it was okay to make a mistake,” Kelton Couperus said.

Nevertheless, Sevastopol’s senior class is persevering with optimism for the future.

“I think that in times like these, it is easy to see rain clouds, but there is always a silver lining,” Breanna Jacobs said.

The overwhelming advice applicable to all students is to join the club, play the sport and audition for that play because at any point, those opportunities could slip away. Along with not taking things for granted, Tyler Kiehnau reminds us that “life can throw many things at you, but you always need to be able to adjust and triumph.”