Class of 2020: Garaway grads focus on good despite no final goodbye
Garaway senior Kallie Regula waits for her turn to cross to midfield at the football stadium for a photo op. The GHS seniors didn’t get to have a typical graduation ceremony, and many of them would have loved to go back and revisit their last day together at school.
This spring was supposed to be when Kurtis Neal was taking on the starring role of Georg von Trapp in Garaway High School’s presentation of “The Sound of Music.” It was supposed to be the time for Cassy Donaldson to slam her final home runs on the softball field and for Noah Wentworth to bask in the glow of finishing his education summa cum laude. It was supposed to be prom and good times and everything that comes with reaching the pinnacle of graduation time.
Instead, it all disappeared amid school closings nationwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.
High school seniors were robbed of their final few months of school in which they were supposed to revel together in the joy of coasting home to the finish line they have worked toward so diligently.
Instead, they went through those final couple of months in solitude, missing out on the joy of finishing their high school careers together.
But in the spirit of optimism and hope, perhaps Neal, who was ready to roll as Baron von Trapp, only to see the musical production shut down right before it was set to take place, summed it up best when he spoke during the Garaway High School graduation ceremony on Wednesday, May 27 on the football field next to Garaway High School, where students received their diplomas and had their pictures taken with far less fanfare than they would normally receive.
“I was really excited about the opportunity to take on a leading role, but I don’t want to look at what I missed, rather than what I got to do,” Neal said. “I got to kick for the football team and participate in the fall production, so I’d rather focus on all of the positives I have experienced.”
Like most graduating seniors, Neal agreed the final moments of their careers at Garaway were going to go down as quite unusual.
“It’s certainly been rather different,” said Neal, who also attended Buckeye Vocational School in machining. “I really have to say that this has helped me get acclimated to change and to having to face challenges.”
Destiny Newman made the trek to midfield for graduation to have her photograph taken with her parents. She said she has been extremely busy during the past couple of months, balancing work at Walnut Hills Nursing Home with school work.
“I have kept very busy, but it has been very sad missing the final couple of months of school with my friends,” Newman said.
Brevan Raber said having the joy of the final weeks of their senior year has been tough, but he said learning to face adversity and what life throws at you is part of the challenge that will help this Class of 2020 grow.
“We had to learn to adapt and go with the flow,” Raber said. “None of your goals change, only the way you approach achieving them. I don’t have any regrets; it’s just life.”
Class Vice President Ethan Miller said missing out on the final few months of their senior year wasn’t just hard because they missed their friends, but also because they were missing the relationships with the staff members.
“There’s a place in my heart that hurts because we didn’t know we were walking out of school for the last time,” Miller said. “I think had we known it was our last day, we would have said more thank-yous, more goodbyes, especially with my AP teachers because they have put so much time and effort into helping me grow. But it is nice knowing that the school is doing everything they can to make graduation as fun and as safe as possible. To me that brings great joy knowing how much the administration cares about us.”
Justine Hershberger said in the beginning she was sad, but as social distancing became the norm, she got used to it a little more every day.
“I was surprised when school was canceled,” Hershberger said. “I’m most disappointed about the last day more than anything because we weren’t expecting it to be our last day. Now I don’t remember much about that last day, and that makes me sad.”
Adrian Dotson agreed with Hershberger, saying not being able to spend those final few days together and to put the finishing touches on their time together is something she wishes she could have back.
“I would have done a lot of things differently,” Dotson said. “I would have cherished hanging out with my friends that day so much more. We had that time taken away from us. I hope that no other class has to experience that feeling.”
Kallie Regula said the strange feeling of walking to midfield on the football field to have their pictures taken after receiving their diplomas felt almost surreal.
“It’s almost like we aren’t graduating,” Regula said. “It’s like, ‘Here you go; you graduated.’ It’s just a weird feeling, but I hope that someday when we look back at this, it will be kind of cool because it was such a unique experience.”