If Boothbay Region High School students could be described with one word last year, it may have been “bravery” or “spirit.” For the Class of 2021, “endurance” may just be the perfect fit. While BRHS is on hybrid attendance with two groups of students having virtually no contact with each other, many students are simply waiting until the year is over so they can move on.

Seniors Isabelle Harkins, Kylie Brown and Fox Elder are among several students looking forward to finishing the school year and attending a four-year university. Before the pandemic, Brown said she wanted to go school about as far away as possible, but is now considering schools much closer to family. Elder said while he continues looking at schools as far as Rhode Island and New York, he also looks closer to home, and that may play into his final decision. “I don't really want COVID to affect where I go to school because at the end of the day, hopefully by the end of this year to the beginning of next year, I think I can see this kind of being less of an issue.”

Harkins said she plans on applying to college, but may consider deferring or taking a gap year should the outlook on the pandemic not improve. “Although it has been wildly unfortunate to spend my last year of high school in a pandemic, I would rather have a weird senior year of high school than a weird freshman year of college.”

College Access Coordinator Hannah Johnson said while meeting virtually has increased the guidance office’s ability to connect with more students and parents, there is still a barrier – not being able to meet face-to-face. “Using Zoom or Meet along with screen sharing is almost as good as the real thing, but not quite. It has also allowed us to connect with parents on lunch breaks here and there since they can now have a virtual meeting with us with the click of a button. I've walked people through filing their FAFSA online, which is something I've not done before!”

Businesses interested in helping with scholarships should contact College Access Coordinator Hannah Johnson at hannah.johnson@aos98schools.org. “I will assist with helping to create an application form and serve as a central place for collection of materials. Businesses can choose whether they'd like our Awards Committee to select the recipient or whether they'd like us to forward the materials (essays, letters of rec, app forms) to them and they can decide. Money is typically sent directly to a student's college after one successful semester completed, so businesses can be confident that money is going where it is intended to go.”

Johnson said most seniors’ plans have changed due to the pandemic. Some are staying closer to home, taking advantage of fee-waivered applications while others are considering community college when they would not have otherwise. “The common assumption is that this year is a great year to throw your hat in the ring at these selective schools … (but) families are really taking the time to consider what college is worth and are treading lightly when they'd have typically gone to an out-of-state school.”

Johnson said universities and colleges are making the application process far simpler and more holistic by lifting SAT requirements and allowing for commentary on the pandemic so students can be frank about how it has affected them without encroaching on the college essay.

Students have a stronger and earlier desire to test the collegiate waters this year as more are taking early college courses and meeting virtually with school representatives, Johnson said. “We have had about 40 college rep visits … solely for BRHS students … We heard from colleges we've never sent students to before.”

More students participated in SAT prep courses this year due to their being online, but even though the SAT is offered for free at BRHS, there was a lower than normal participation rate since most colleges and universities have adopted test-optional policies and a more holistic approach to admissions, said Johnson. Juniors will still have SAT School Day this spring if students are physically in school, she said. “SAT Prep is a big deal because we make it available to all students instead of allowing our students to fall prey to the pay-to-play system that students without College Access programs at their high schools do. We are lucky to have a school board and a community that support the vision for equitable access and the need for increased support in this area.”

Looking forward to life beyond BRHS is not much consolation to the students who will not see a normal year. Harkins said the pandemic opened her eyes to the many things people take for granted like eating dinner with their grandparents, seeing friends on the weekend and masking up and social distancing for the few things left that can be done in person. “It has really made me consider all the things I do every day that I don’t think about and, if they were to be taken away, how much I would be affected as a result.”

Said Brown, “I have looked forward to my senior year, but all the things I have looked forward to are going to be vastly different. I wouldn’t say that I am wishing the school year would end, I just want the pandemic to end so I can have a more normal senior year … No one really enjoys coming to school anymore as we are going to school just to – go to school. There is no socializing with your friends and peers. Everything is different.”

Elder said he could see the school year playing out as it has, though he is hopeful for some semblance of a normal graduation in June. “I don't see this changing before the year is over. I'm hoping I can go into college with a normal college experience. That's really my hope. I'm just trying to bite down and get through what's left of high school. I'm hoping that next year will be a lot better.”

Said Harkins, “I think we would all agree on the academic aspect of the pandemic because we are all in the same boat. Regardless of what kind of student you are, we are all trying to finish high school, which is scary enough, not to mention trying to do it during these circumstances.”