Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Commencement will likely not be held on campus this year.
Graphic by Sesame Gaetsaloe/The Choate News
This spring, Choate joined schools across the globe in deciding to cancel classes for the remainder of the academic year. The protective measure left many students isolated in their households, thousands of miles away from beloved friends, teachers, and advisers. Class of 2020, in particular, rued the loss of its senior spring, which, following traditions, was to have included celebrated senior rites such as late curfew, dance lessons, Last Hurrah, Garden Party, and, of course, Commencement.
“It’s a difficult thing to come to terms with,” said Grace Zhang ’20. “You make all these plans and look forward to this time for three and a half years, and it felt like nothing would interrupt it.”
Sixth-formers final term on Choate is nearly always characterized by relatively carefree stretches of sunny weather and relaxation, savoring the final weeks on campus with friends and faculty alike. Many seniors maintain “bucket lists” of all the activities they want to complete before they become alumni.
Despite early omens of the coronavirus outbreak, few students expected to not return when they left for spring break in March. The announcement to cancel spring term brought an abrupt end to the high school experience for many seniors who were anticipating a more satisfying conclusion. “I want to rush back to my life at Choate so I can properly appreciate all the little moments I never realized had impacted me so much like sitting in the dining hall for hours, doing duty in Nichols, astronomy club observations, giving Gold Key Tours, seeing my teachers and friends in person,” Skylar Hansen-Raj ’20 said.
Loneliness has settled in for many students who have found the lack of social interaction difficult to overcome. Some have organized Zoom calls to stay connected with their peers, only to discover that video chats and text messages fail to replicate the extent of social life at Choate.
“I feel like a lot of the social interactions that you have at Choate are not very formal ones, like talking to someone for two seconds on the path and in the dining hall,” said Anya Mikovsky ’20. “Those aren’t really things you can simulate.”.
Of all the activities that sixth-formers were to experience this spring, Commencement seems the hardest to imagine forgoing. The School has yet to announce how it plans to handle graduation. The final day of remote classes for sixth-formers is May 22. (The rest of the student body will be in class through June 5.) The Commencement speaker was to be the author Maria Semple, who graduated (on campus) from Choate in 1982. Ms. Julia Brown, one of the sixth-form deans, said, “Mr. [Pat] Dennehy and I hold out hope that we will be able to get our wonderful class together for some kind of final celebration, but it is just too early to make plans. We have, however, begun to organize some senior activities via Zoom for the next few weeks. As for graduation, our class has worked so hard and deserves some type of celebration – we remain optimistic.”
Amid the anxiety and solitude, seniors have found various ways to cope with their circumstances. Many students have focused on staying healthy during the pandemic by exercising. Running, in particular, has become a popular activity for students in need of fresh air and sunlight. Students have also turned to television and video games to spend their time. In an attempt to salvage their senior-spring experience, one group of students has been developing a replica of the school in the video game Minecraft, leading to jokes among the senior class of a “Minecraft graduation.”
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, many seniors feel that, if any lesson is to be learned, it is to never take the future for granted. “I’ve realized that you should never rely on the future to remain as you expect,” said Zhang. “And if there are things you want to do, there’s no reason you shouldn’t just do them now.
