From young age, we have been acutely aware of the types of strife and difficulties that exist in our society
… we’d rather choose to rise up and make the changes we wish to see, the changes that the world needs.”
Oakville student Dorian Knight, from his valedictorian speech.
They never thought they’d miss school so much.
But after the COVID-19 pandemic hit and everyone went into lockdown, the class of 2020 says it was the routine things they longed for the most — hanging out in the hallways with friends, talking to teachers.
It was not an easy year — the shutdown came on the heels of educators’ one-day strikes and work-to-rule — but definitely memorable.
There was “tremendous difficulty and personal adversity” this year, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said Wednesday at Queen’s Park, during a virtual graduation address with Premier Doug Ford and Raptors superfan Nav Bhatia.
“Yet the history books will reflect with pride on you. Because when faced with a real obstacle, you showed your family, your educators and your country that nothing can stop you.”
The Star spoke to 11 graduates from elementary and high schools, several of them honoured to be their class’s valedictorian, in Greater Toronto about life under lockdown and their hopes for what lies ahead.
Ivy Deng, Earl Haig Secondary, Toronto
Her final year of high school? “Like an amazing novel that ended in the middle.”
During the shutdown, she started baking bread and having daily family dinners in the backyard followed by evening bike trips — time she treasured before heading away this fall to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of business.
When school was in, she remembers one beloved, longtime visual arts teacher walking across the icy parking lot on a cold day. The whole class pressed their faces against the window, worried about his safety.
When he came into the room, “we all stood up and started clapping and chanting (his name) … people even randomly started crying.”
“This experience illustrated how closely my class had bonded over these four years,” she said. She wishes “we could’ve spent a bit more time together before our final goodbye.”
Zaiboon Azhar, Woburn Collegiate, Scarborough
She spent the lockdown doing homework — and home workouts — and helped her sister with her new baking business. And although she missed school, “this was down time that a lot of people needed,” said Azhar, who heads to the University of Toronto this fall to study international relations.
Zaiboon’s best time in Grade 12 was a school assembly before the winter break where she performed with the dance team. “It was a feeling of being so involved and so together with the graduating class,” she said. “That’s a good memory that I really hold close to my heart.”
Senior year, she added “is one of those years you look forward to every year — there’s this vision for senior year that it’s fun and exciting, and we were missing out on it all.”
Nelson Lee, Marc Garneau Collegiate, East York
After strikes and work-to-rule job action by staff and teachers, “COVID-19 really amplified” what was already a tough year, Nelson said.
He was proud to have held the first mental health awareness month at the school, and then spirit events online after schools were closed. He also started a YouTube channel highlighting high school life as well as tips on getting into university.
Nelson got early acceptance into engineering at the University of Toronto.
“I missed my friends and the entire atmosphere — being in the TOPS (science) program I always felt a motivation from students to push myself to another level.
“With online classes, we don’t feel that same motivation that we have when we are beside friends.”
Hadassah Myers, White Haven PS, Scarborough
She started school busy with athletic council and flag football and was looking forward to the Grade 8 grad trip to Niagara Falls. But that didn’t happen.
“I never imagined I could miss school this much. I miss my friends the most and just not being inside” for such a prolonged period, Hadassah said.
“We need to stay positive,” she added.
“I know a lot of the Grade 8s are sad because things were cancelled. But we need to focus on the bigger issues” and to “keep up with current events and encourage others do to the same — speak up, challenge things.”
She’s heading to Agincourt
Collegiate in the fall, and hopes to become a lawyer.
Luca Caruso LeMay, White Haven PS, Scarborough
Luca plays percussion for the school’s concert band, which took only one trip. Other than that, he said there wasn’t a lot going on in Grade 8. After schools were closed, Luca’s music teacher gave kids fun assignments, such as bucket drumming.
“I stay at home and once in a while go to Costco — that’s the most eventful thing I will do,” he said.
“I think a lot of Grade 8s, like myself, are kind of disappointed. It’s not the best ending to elementary.”
But, he added, “we still have high school ... we have to keep optimistic, keep our hopes up for the future. The number of (COVID-19) cases is going down ... we are going to have a good time (at Agincourt Collegiate), and there are more memories to make.”
Julienne Espiritu, Francis Libermann Catholic Secondary, Scarborough
Julienne “cherishes” the carefree feeling she had before the pandemic, when students were looking forward to grad, prom and the senior prank.
“Even being in the hallways and those classrooms,” she said wistfully, “I never thought I would miss school so much. I definitely think that it was a very hard year to get through, but it made me appreciate those moments more.”
Her school has planned a “drive-thru” graduation. As valedictorian, she will “thank my fellow grads for staying strong. It’s not the senior year we wanted — it’s not the year we wanted at all, period ... (and) even though it’s been hard, I want them to keep the same fire and energy they had at the start of the year.”
She heads to Carleton University this fall for public affairs and policy management.
Charmi Sanghvi, Fletcher’s Meadow Secondary, Brampton
She’s sad about missing out on the tradition of “senior’s sunrise,” when graduating students meet at their school at about 4:30 a.m. for a breakfast picnic.
The valedictorian — who kept busy pre-pandemic with sports, student council and school fundraisers — said she’s going to tell her fellow graduates that while they might feel “down about everything, they put in so much hard work over the years” and they must not lose sight of that.
“I came to realize we missed our teachers, we missed the social (life), we missed sports and clubs and we missed the few months of our senior year when we had the chance to make lifechanging memories.”
She’s heading to Queen’s University this fall to study commerce.
Mohamad-Hassan Bahsoun, Dunbarton HS, Pickering
Ramadan fell during quarantine and as one of the leaders of his school’s Muslim students association, Mohamad-Hassan arranged to have friends post online “what they were having for dinner — when the sun came down and they could eat” as a way to keep everyone connected.
The student activity council arranged daily games or yoga via livestream and have asked Grade 12s to share where they are going to university and post photos. Mohamad-Hassan is going to McMaster for engineering.
The valedictorian said his speech “might be a little sad because I might talk about corona and how we were all separated from each other. I will talk about the whole Black Lives Matter movement, and how when we work together, we can create positive change.”
Michelle Chou, Bayview Secondary, Richmond Hill
This valedictorian said she is going to focus her speech “reflecting on the year … (and) how our generation is rebuilding.”
Michelle said once schools closed “we got too much of what we wanted … too much of a break.
But she was able to take the time to starting painting, play frisbee and go on runs and walks. “I used to think walking by myself was boring,” she added. “But now, it’s really refreshing. I appreciate the small things in life.”
Michelle is heading to Queen’s this fall to study commerce.
Dorian Knight, Thomas A. Blakelock, Oakville
Before the shutdown, Dorian was busy with school, band and extracurriculars. But he and his friends joke that since COVID-19 hit, life actually got busier — from Zoom meetings to online hangouts.
He’s also spent the shutdown honing his valedictorian speech, talking about how helping others has “boundless impact.”
“From everything I’ve observed, all the marches, the protests, the town halls and the paradigm-shifting discussions, it is clear that our generation is the generation of impact.
“From a young age, we have been acutely aware of the types of strife and difficulties that exist in our society … we’d rather choose to rise up and make the changes we wish to see, the changes that the world needs.”
Dorian is heading to McMaster this fall for biomedical engineering/health sciences.
Sheanne Jesudhason, Holy Name of Mary Secondary, Brampton
This week would have been her graduation — and she would have been valedictorian. Instead, Sheanne and some friends are going to pick up their gowns from school and on Friday meet at someone’s house to take grad photos.
“That will be the first time all of us are meeting in person,” she said.
“I think for most people, for the first couple of weeks we thought it was relaxing … then when the extensions kept going … we took back everything we said” and wanted things to be back to normal.
“It feels like we have missed a major milestone,” she said.
She’s going to York University in the fall for a concurrent education and business and society program.