Rose basketball highlights
Senior class laments loss of usual Rose traditions
SAT.| 11-28-20 | FEATURES
While in the midst of a pandemic many seniors are trying to work through applying to college, spending time with their friends and overall having to adjust to the new normal. Because of COVID-19, many of the events that celebrate seniors on their accomplishments and allow them to enjoy spending time with their high school friends for the last time have been canceled. These events include convocation, homecoming, fall formal, Rowdy Rampants for fall football and many more. These limited opportunities to see and spend time with friends in school because of the divide between A and B weeks has taken a toll on many seniors’ ability to enjoy their last year in high school.
“I miss not only seeing my friends but also just being in the atmosphere with everybody,” senior Narkevion Tyson said. “I’d just love to have that one more time.”
Tyson wishes that the seniors would have been able to have a convocation.Without these times where seniors are able to celebrate their accomplishments and become excited to graduate, many seniors are left feeling like they are just going through the motions of school and not really enjoying it. Senior Madelyn Carraway also feels that she cannot experience being a senior to the fullest extent because of this new normal.
“Without convocation and things like that we
Graphic by Lilly Seymour
definitely missed out on what being a Rose senior is all about,” Carraway said.
In addition to not being able to celebrate their senior year, many students are also missing out on their last chance to attend events such as fall formal and show their spirit in the student section for sports. It is a trend among some students to wait until their senior year to attend dances, and many students will not get the chance to attend a high school dance if they waited until their senior year.
“A lot of stuff I didn’t do my freshman, sophomore and junior year I was planning on doing it this year,” Tyson said.
Another big part of many seniors’ overall senior experience is being leaders of the student section during football and basketball games. The notorious Rowdy Rampants are many seniors' favorite and most anticipated part of their final year. With the change in football season and the possibility that spectators may be at limited capacity, this experience will be different than that of previous games. Football season has been moved from fall to February and this has affected both how the players feel about their senior experience and how spectators feel about their senior experience. Carraway is especially sad that she will not be able to carry on her brother’s legacy in the Rowdy Rampant student section.
“It’s such a sad feeling,” Carraway said. “My brother’s graduating class came up with Rowdy Rampants, and being a senior and not being a part of it is really sad to me.”
Many football players are also upset that their peers will not be there to cheer them on. Empty stands at a sporting event change the whole atmosphere of the game. Tyson is both a player on the football team and a manager for the basketball team, so he has a different perspective on how fans and peers affect the players.
“Last year we had a wild student section for football and basketball,” Tyson said. “I just feel like it’s hard not to have that because as an athlete we live for that and we love for our crazy friends to be up there cheering for us.”
Without being able to see friends and enjoy high school, many students are scared of the year flying by too fast without having time to appreciate their last time as kids. Senior year not only marks the end of high school, but also for many it marks the end of childhood as a whole. Next year many students will be moving out of their parents house and going off to college, and these students are looking to enjoy some of their final times living in their families houses and with their high school friends.
“I don’t want to rush the time away and end up regretting not spending more time with my family and friends,” Carraway said.
Although many things have changed this year during students’ first semester as seniors, both Tyson and Carraway have hope that next semester they will figure out a way to at least have a prom and graduation in order to celebrate making it through high school. It is important for students to remember that although it is upsetting that we can not have many of these events, in the end, it is the best interest of keeping the Rose student body safe and healthy.