Will More Seniors Return?

Written by Carlos Figueroa

Ever since last year, Miami-Dade County Public School closed its doors and moved to virtual learning due to COVID-19 cases rapidly increasing. At the time, it was said that the students would return two weeks after the quarantine was announced but that progressed to the current day. The graduating class of 2020 had the last three months taken away from them and now it is apparent that the class of 2021 had their whole year robbed.

This year, students slowly started to come back. However, the majority of seniors stay at home and attend school virtually. Will a couple of the current virtual seniors come back to school for their last hoorah in high school or will they stay home? I’ve conducted two interviews with two virtual seniors, Jason Rodriguez and Vicenzo DeVito to see how their year is going and ask about the plans they have for the end of the school year.

How is your senior year going so far?

Jason Rodriguez: “My senior year hasn't been bad at all, to be honest without counting the elephant in the room(COVID), things have been flowing smoothly and I do my thing.” Vicenzo DeVito: "My senior year is going quite swimmingly. I find the online environment to be quite relaxing, and I get to enjoy many liberties that I normally would not be able to enjoy in physical school, such as wearing comfortable pants." Takeaway With virtual school adding a sense of comfortability to these students, they are just going with the flow. It doesn’t pose much of a problem since they don’t have to endure the caveats of going to physical school.

What do you think about this school year compared to the previous ones?

Jason Rodriguez:” Definitely the most boring school year. This is because there’s only so much you can do virtually and the physical experience would be normal or better than it used to be. Shame that it had to be like this.” Vicenzo DeVito: “I do not view this school year more favorably or less favorably than any previous years. Each year has its pros and cons. All I can say is that I appreciate the pros more than I dislike the cons. Takeaway Both Jason and Vicenzo have differing statements on their virtual school year. With one viewing it as the worst but the other weighing the pros over the cons.

Have you thought about returning to school physically recently? If so, when and why?

Jason Rodriguez: ‘I intend on going back at the beginning of the fourth quarter but earlier would be fine because I want to finish school physically." Vicenzo DeVito: “I plan on going back at the beginning of the fourth quarter. I would like to go back to school so I could have a change of scenery.’’ Takeaway There still is hope students will return to school physically because of similar reasons. Jason and Vicenzo both stated that their last hoorah in high school will be physical rather than virtual.