High school seniors head to Instagram to create yearbooks
Allie Clouse
The class of 2020’s school year ended in a way that no one expected, but Farragut High School seniors Nandini Rana and Alisha Soni are still trying to preserve the most important traditions.
Amid the coronavirus shutdown, they created a virtual yearbook on Instagram.
“We actually didn’t expect this many people to be into it, but it was like a snowball effect,” Rana said. “Now we’re posting and getting messages from people who want to be featured daily. A lot of people will repost their photo and tag us, so the account gets exposure and we can make sure that everybody is recognized for graduating this year.”
Farragut students won’t be getting their real last yearbook until August, so when Soni saw friends from other schools across the state making accounts for their graduating class, she texted Rana about starting their own page.
“We’re both members of the student government, so we’re used to working in an environment where we try to keep everybody connected,” Rana told Knox News. “I think that’s why it seemed like a no-brainer for us because we want to keep a good community after high school.”
Each post features a picture of a senior, their post-graduation plans and a senior quote, which Rana and Soni said isn’t usually in their yearbooks and is adding a new way for students to express themselves.
Hardin Valley and West high schools have joined the trend and posted similar senior send-aways. Despite not being able to enjoy their last moments together at prom, college signing day and graduation, the digital yearbook posts are helping Knox County seniors cope with their final year being cut short.
“I’ve been trying to stay optimistic. I know it’s not the worst thing in the world, and there are plenty of people all across the world who are in much worse situations than we’re in,” Soni said. “I think I can speak on behalf of all the classes when I say that we really appreciate everything that the administration has done for us to make sure that we get the full senior experience.”
Rana will be attending the University of California-los Angeles in the fall to study financial actuarial mathematics, and Soni will be attending the University of Southern California to study environmental studies and global studies.