2020 has already been stressful enough due to COVID-19 and school suddenly becoming virtual.
Now imagine you’re a senior, having to apply to college and wait for an acceptance letter. This is
unfortunately a reality for seniors graduating this year. Like everything else, seniors have had to
adjust to the changes due to COVID. From not being able to meet with teachers in person, and
interviews and mentoring moved online, seniors have found ways to adapt. Everyone has had
different experiences with their application process. It’s affected seniors in many different ways.
“Applications are harder because it is so uncertain of what will happen and it makes me feel I
haven’t done enough because COVID stopped academic/extracurricular activities,” senior Lisa
Rhyne said.
“I don’t think it has affected my application process that much; I just had to do an online meeting
for one of my interviews but other than that it really hasn’t interfered,” senior Kristen Barr said.
Whenever applying to college, the essay is usually the most difficult and time consuming part.
This portion of the application process, although tedious, has stayed virtually the same.
“The biggest struggle is the personal essay you want to share your entire life without sharing
every detail at the same time. It’sIts choosing what was the biggest event that changed you vs.
what’s the little things that added to it” Horton said.
“For me [the struggle] was definitely the essay. It was very stressful and I redid mine like 5
times. At first I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right. But after awhile I just wrote what I wanted to
write about and it made me less stressed out.” Barr said.
The application process isn’t the only thing that these seniors have to worry about. They also
question when or if they will be able to attend college in person.
“I believe we will get to attend in the fall because we have a whole year ahead to really change.”
“We better, I am counting on it and really want the full college experience. I know that COVID
will already affect it somewhat but I am just hoping and praying that we get to go in person and
don’t have to go online for any amount of time.” future ECU pirate Kristen Barr said.
Hoping to go to UNC Chapel Hill as well, Lisa Rhynne said “I can’t tell if we’ll be able to attend,
I feel like classes will be hybrid though.”
Although COVID has affected these students in almost every aspect of their lives, including their
application process, they all maintain a positive attitude.
“ I have been coping with corona and it showed me some tough obstacles and how to overcome
them and even if you can’t overcome them, how to grow and change from them and not allow
them to define yourself,” senior Zoe Horton said.