Op-Ed - The Coronavirus From a Senior’s Perspective

By: Jaycee Hampton 

COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, is the global pandemic that has been affecting everyone’s day-to-day livelihood for the past few weeks.  With an extremely horrifying death rate, this despicable virus has caused an abundance of heartbreak worldwide. Businesses have been shutting down; classes for students of all ages have been canceled; major sporting events and seasons are coming to a sudden end; people are struggling to make ends meet while trying desperately to get the necessities for their families. These are only small factors of the bigger picture, and that’s terrifying. 

As of 4 p.m. on April 12, 2020, the confirmed case number of the coronavirus worldwide is 1,833,685, with 113,296 deaths. In times like these, we must hold each other accountable and follow social distancing rules, as well as encourage and praise our health care workers, scientists, and all those who are hard at work to keep us safe. 

Around the Owasso community, many seniors have come together through social media to express their grief of losing many of their lasts. Sports, the arts, clubs and other extracurriculars have been canceled left and right. With prom and graduation being up in the air, everyone is undoubtedly upset right now. These high schoolers all over Oklahoma, and worldwide, are hurting terribly from how much they’ve had to sacrifice, but they still remain empathetic for those who are suffering through these hard times. 

While school closures may seem minimal in comparison to COVID-19's global impact, it doesn't mean that they aren't also felt in a truly personal way by many. Senior Isabelle Hardy from Owasso high school has lost her last soccer season due to the coronavirus. Although it’s frustrating, she remains hopeful for the future and continues to focus on the good things. 

“At first, I was really upset. I wouldn’t be seeing my friends again, all of the underclassmen I wanted to say bye to, just anyone that I don’t talk to on a daily basis. Not only would I not be having contact with my friends every day, but my soccer season was gone,” said Hardy. “This took away my last soccer game, my senior night, my last soccer banquet, the last time I would see many people from my high school, the last lunch I’d ever share with my lunch table. It’s the little things that I’m going to miss. Of course, I’m a little sad about it, but dwelling on what has happened will not change it, so I’m trying to be optimistic.” 

But many great things have happened thus far in the school year, which Hardy agreed to. Now, she’s focusing on the good things she got to experience and continues to follow the social distancing mantra in hopes of helping people who are suffering through sickness at the moment. 

Many other seniors from other high schools have the same feelings about their extracurriculars. I took the liberty to reach out to students from other high schools and get their perspective on this whole ordeal because this pandemic is larger than just the Owasso community. As a result, I had the honor to exchange a few emails with Brittany Banh, a senior at Bartlesville high school who is very involved in the yearbook committee, Interact club, Spanish club, NHS, student council, and AP classes. 

“I’m handling this whole thing very weirdly. I love staying busy, and my schedule is usually filled up with extracurriculars, but the pandemic has cleared my schedule for the next… however long. I have more time to myself, even though it puts me in a funky mood. Social distancing is for the greater good, but it's definitely taken a toll on my own mental health,” said Banh. “[Bartlesville’s] prom has already been canceled, and graduation is still up in the air to be rescheduled. I'm just worried about staying on track to walk across the stage at graduation, and I'm also worried about the health of others.”

I also had the pleasure of holding a facetime interview with a senior from Broken Arrow high school, Chandler Suddath. He is very active on the varsity baseball team, but, sadly, his season was taken away from him. 

“Not having baseball has made me realize how much a team can be a family, and how strong of a connection I’ve made with my teammates and my coaches. I’m going to miss all the relationships I’ve had,” said Suddath. “Having my season taken away made me feel like I’ve taken this sport for granted, ‘cause I thought I’d always have it, but now, it’s not here.”

Suddath considers himself to be an active person, so following the guidelines of social distancing has been a struggle for him. He misses being able to see his friends, but everything he does and every rule he resigns to follow is for his mom. 

“It has been hard because my mom is so scared. She even sprays my dad with Lysol every morning,” Suddath jokingly said. “My mom has lupus, so she has a reason to be scared; this turned her into a clean freak, but we still continue to do things together to try and keep it normal, like walking the dogs, playing card games— we’ve even been cooking together a lot more.” 

Lupus is an autoimmune disease, in which the body’s immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks normal, healthy tissues. This is absolutely horrific to begin with, but now, adding to the stress of this infectious and rapidly spreading coronavirus, it is vital for everyone to consider someone other than themselves. 

The coronavirus attacks the respiratory system, so anyone with asthma, diabetes, Parkinson's Disease, HIV/AIDS, and elders with weaker immune systems are at a higher risk than others. People are living in fear because they don’t have the option to be naturally healthy. They are depending on us to follow the social distancing guidelines and every effort that healthcare workers/scientists are making.

 Please, take your peers into consideration before making the reckless decision to go hang out with friends, or make anything other than the necessary trip. There are people on the frontlines who are working diligently to keep the world spinning as best as it can in this current climate.

Plenty of information can be discovered at cdc.gov, if you’re interested in doing more research on the coronavirus and what you can do to prevent the spread.