‘Not defined by tragedy’: York County 2020 graduates discuss the effects of COVID-19
Shelby Spencer is the York Comprehensive High School valedictorian. She said she does not want the Class of 2020 to be defined by the coronavirus.
“We are more than the class that graduated during a pandemic,” Spencer said in a recording of her graduation speech. “The Class of 2020 is not defined by tragedy, but by resilience.”
Seniors this year marked the end of their high school careers with canceled proms, missed friends and changed graduations.
Due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, schools across South Carolina were forced to close in March. That led to the cancellation of sports events, prom, senior trips and more. Students finished their studies at home.
In some districts, in-person high school graduations were not possible. York, Chester and Lancaster County district leaders came up with creative ways for seniors to get their diplomas and celebrate completing high school.
Ceremonies were held at football stadiums and a North Carolina drive-in theater. The events were streamed online for family and friends watching from home.
Some seniors who normally would have addressed their peers from a podium pre-recorded their speeches to play at graduations. The Herald asked seniors to provide a video of their speech to feature among those done by their peers statewide.
In the past few months, Spencer said, people empathized with high school seniors who lost out on traditional experiences.
“We’ve received condolences instead of congratulations. In a time that was supposed to be full of possibility, it was filled with pity,” she said in the speech. “While this was certainly not the way we envisioned our senior year ending, the severity and seriousness of the situation is not lost on us.”
Communities in the York County region found ways to honor their 2020 graduates. Seniors waved to supporters during graduation parades. Signs were placed in graduating seniors’ front yards and messages displayed on buildboards.
A Clover student started a project honoring 2020 seniors, in which community members sent gifts and words of encouragement to graduates.
York Comprehensive senior Brianna Inman in her recorded speech thanked school administrators for holding a ceremony that kept the aspects important to the Class of 2020.
“The biggest thing we will most likely remember is how the coronavirus turned our world upside down and brought a halt to school as we knew it,” Inman said.
Inman also reflected on how the community supported student-athletes and artists. She said students gave back through multiple projects.
“It showed us how the student body cares for others,” Inman said in her speech.
Despite the challenges, 2020 seniors still get to celebrate the end of high school, said Hannah Rabon of Legion Collegiate Academy. Rabon is part of the first graduating class from the new Rock Hill charter school.
“We have earned our titles as high school graduates and nothing, not even a pandemic, can take this hard- won accomplishment away from us,” she said.
Hannah Archer said she has looked forward to her graduation for years. Archer was named valedictorian at York Preparatory Academy, a public charter school in Rock Hill.
While her senior year didn’t go as she hoped, Archer shared a message of resilience.
“We were born into a world of chaos and terror and now we are graduating during a pandemic. No one said life would be easy or would always go our way,” she said. “We don’t know what the future holds but we will get through it.
“Do not allow the situation to define who you are and who you will become. We are not alone.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 5:30 AM.
