For the class of 2020, it’s a year to forget
High school seniors sad to miss out on big events, from class trips to sports to prom
If you had asked Amber Lucero to put pen to paper and have her map out her senior year at Santa Fe High, the last few steps in that journey would have ended in prom, commencement and maybe a trip to the top of the winner’s podium at May’s state track and field meet.
Instead, she has been reduced to isolating in her bedroom from a global pandemic, scrolling through webpages to glance at prom dresses she may never wear and limo rides she might never take.
She stays connected by interacting with friends through social media and keeping in touch with teachers at school, but it’s simply not the same.
“In a lot of ways, I’ve been waiting for this moment most of my life and to have it taken away like this …” Lucero said, pausing to gather herself. “It’s hard to accept. I understand why it has to happen, you know, but it hurts just to think about all the things people have lost. It’s not just me. It’s all the seniors. It’s everyone.”
On Friday, Lucero learned two things she’d been building toward for years had officially been canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. With less than two months left in her high school journey, she sat alone and watched as announcements rolled in: The New Mexico Activities Association had canceled the remainder of the athletic calendar, and the state closed campuses for the rest of the academic year and said instruction would move online.
The Public Education Department also announced that proms and graduation ceremonies were either canceled or postponed.
That leaves in doubt Santa Fe High’s graduation and senior prom — two events the school hopes to reschedule. It also wiped out spring sports, such as track, tennis, golf, baseball and softball.
The earliest the state will get to organized prep sports activities is summer.
From inside the four walls of her room, Lucero had a tough time grasping the news.
So did others who have dedi
It hurts just to think about all the things people have lost. It’s not just me. It’s all the seniors. It’s everyone.” Amber Lucero, a senior at Santa Fe High
cated their lives to such endeavors.
“This is supposed to be a time for high school seniors to enjoy the last few weeks of their time in a system most of them probably grew up in, so it’s heartbreaking to watch them go through it,” said Robin Martinez, the girls golf coach at St. Michael’s High School. “Seniors and all kids, really, are growing up with a different life experience than the rest of us had at that age. You work so hard to get to that last year because so much of it is fun and exciting, and then this happens.”
The new normal of social distancing, self-quarantines and sacrificing time with friends hits high school kids a bit differently.
West Las Vegas senior Jon Balizan said he had planned to spend the final two months of his senior year doing what many do; coasting to the finish line and soaking in as many memories as possible.
“I wasn’t planning on doing any kind of sports in the spring because I just kind of wanted to spend the time left having fun with my friends before we start college,” he said. “I don’t know — just a hard way to end this, if that’s what it is.”
Carly Gonzales spent the last five years as a standout athlete at Peñasco and had plans to end her senior year running distance events for the Panthers track team this spring. She said she doesn’t care much about missing prom or even the senior retreats, but she did say ending the year with orders to stay inside isn’t ideal.
“I’m not much of a dancer, so prom never really mattered that much to me,” Gonzales said. “But at the same time, I feel hopeful that when this is all over, schools can get together to celebrate graduation no matter when it is. We need that so much. Even if it’s later, I think it will be special because it will be a time when we’re allowed to leave the house and celebrate something we’ve all gone through together. Whenever it is, I’m sure it will feel special because it will all be over.”
Jaaziel Salazar, a senior class co-president at the Academy for Technology and the Classics, said he was holding out hope before Friday he could return to campus this spring.
“I was preparing for the worst but really hoping we would go back. There’s so many experiences we’re missing now,” Salazar said. “We were planning a senior trip. We had a senior ditch day, a prank, prom and all of that.
“Obviously, these times bum you out, but I think it’s important for any senior feeling sad or anxious to remember all the good moments we had. I don’t think it’s the last time we’ve all seen each other.”
Back at Santa Fe High, track and field standout Lucero had forgone her senior season on the school’s basketball team to concentrate on a spring schedule that — with any luck, she said — would have ended in a college coach or two taking notice of her throwing ability in the shot put and javelin.
She said she missed prom her junior year, putting all her eggs into one basket this spring.
Months of training and untold hours of planning culminated in just one event at a track meet in Bernalillo on March 7, four days before the statewide shutdown began with limited social interaction.
Lucero won one event and finished second in another.
“If I had known that would have been my last competition, I would have stopped to enjoy it more,” she said. She again reflected on the likelihood that prom, senior retreat day and even commencement are forever changed.
“To know I’ll maybe never get that experience, yeah, that’s sad,” Lucero said. “It’s sad because everyone has to deal with it, not just me.”