By Maddy Wagner, News Editor
It took less than 48 hours for many lives to completely change at First Flight High School as COVID-19 spread across the country after first appearing on the West Coast in February. On a sunny Thursday afternoon as high school athletes were just gearing up for their season, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association canceled spring sports – ending after-school practices with friends, conference meets and games, and last chances at state rings.
Two days later on March 14, Gov. Roy Cooper announced that school would be delayed two weeks. Soon after, that closure was extended to May 15, then the year, leaving FFHS students to wrestle with the loss of major events like prom and graduation. But as we approach two full months of social distancing and online school, it’s the loss of simple everyday activities that many students are finding they miss the most.
High schoolers and everyone else have had to redo the way they do basically everything, from how they celebrate birthdays to how they spend time with friends.
For junior Emma Hartnett, her birthday fell just three days after she discovered her outdoor track season was canceled and that school was closed.
“Well, it kinda sucked because I couldn’t really go out or anything, but luckily I have really good friends who managed to make the day special in spite of the pandemic,” Hartnett said. “For example, Emma Byard left me a present in my mailbox, and I had a few other friends drop by.”
In the weeks after her birthday, Hartnett has had to adjust the way she does things: “One thing I’ve wanted to do the past few weeks is have people over, or even just watch a movie inside my house with my friends. But instead I’ve been going on walks/runs six feet apart or FaceTiming people.”
Joe Davidson is a senior who is heading to the University of Tampa in the fall and participates in cross country, basketball and outdoor track. Not being able to hang around his friends has been the hardest part of the stay-at-home order. He said he’s spent most of his time over the last few weeks working out at his house, watching Netflix, playing Warzone and relaxing on the beach.
“I definitely miss being around my friends and playing sports with people who I probably won’t get the chance to be close with after high school is over,” Davidson said. “I am so excited for college … that’s really the only thing getting me through this, because it’s a really boring period of time having to stay away from people.”
Sophomore Mya Salch misses meals with friends most of all.
“I’ve really wanted to go out to eat with my friends at a restaurant, but instead we’ve gotten pizza and sat at a beach access,” Salch said.
But students are a resilient bunch who have made the best of it. And some, like sophomore Aiden Pipkin, have even managed to find the silver lining – and keep a sense of humor.
When asked what he wanted to do during the pandemic, but did instead, he joked: “I wanted to stay home and do nothing, and I still managed to achieve that goal.”
Junior Maddy Wagner can be reached at 21wagnerma13@daretolearn.org.
