Bryanna Alexa Monteiro,
BRIDGELAND HIGH SCHOOL
Bryanna Alexa Monteiro had only just started feeling comfortable in Texas when school let out for spring break and never resumed, having moved from Florida last year. She kept herself busy by joining different clubs, including yearbook and photography, and focused on studying and making friends.
And it worked — she has a solid group of friends whom she made plans with to go to prom and float the Guadalupe River. She was planning to attend two promsand bought a separate gown for each.
Thankfully, she’ll get to wear one of them for an outside prom scheduled for sometime in June.
She was looking forward to her graduation ceremony, to which she said many of her Brazilian family members were going to come. But now she can invite only four guests to a late-summer ceremony.
Since March, she has been able to see a few friends but only from the street. Her job at the mall is on hiatus, so she has turned to delivering letters and baking sweets for her Bible study group for a bit of socialization. But her mother won’t let her go inside anyone’s houses.
“With my Bible study group, we actually sat down 6 feet apart in front of a friend’s house and watched the sun rise — it was nice,” says Monteiro, who will turn 18 on the first day of her freshman year at Abilene Christian University.
“I didn’t expect my senior year to look like this; it’s been very unique, and I think it all happened for a reason,” she says. “When it’s over, I will truly cherish moments with those I’m not seeing every day. It’s shown me how to be in the moment and not being distracted by my phone and social media.”
KINDER HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE PERFORMING AND VISUAL ARTS
Seniors at the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts were especially hurt by COVID-19. For arts students, the end of senior year isn’t just a time for graduation and prom, but also a final showcase of four years of hard work via a show or project.
“We usually sing a song at every graduation,” says HannahLeah Bernosky, a senior at HSVPA. “It was disappointing that we can’t do it this year.”
Bernosky was also supposed to have her big debut at one of the world’s top opera companies — Houston Grand Opera. Singing as Spirit One in HGO’s “The Magic Flute” would have been a major achievement for any high schooler.
“I’m sad. It was my first bigtime opera I was going to be in,” Bernosky says. “This is what I want to do. It’s my passion.”