The Class of 2020 faced a most unusual end of their high school years because of the coronavirus pandemic.
For those who went on to college, what followed was an even more unusual beginning.
The Register caught up with three graduates — Isabella Duke and Haley Carlin from Iola High School and Julianna Sprague from Marmaton Valley High School — to recap their first semester away.
Their experiences were quite different, as colleges have adjusted to the pandemic in various ways. Each of the students have learned to adapt, just as they did since the pandemic first disrupted their schooling back in March.
Isabella Duke
Isabella Duke made significant changes as she prepared for classes at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.
First, she landed a job at Walgreens and moved to an off-campus apartment with her dog, Toby, an Australian shepherd mix.
Duke greeted the change to live independently with determination. Even so, she looked forward to classes beginning and becoming part of a larger community. In high school, Duke was very involved with extracurricular activities including FFA, forensics and theater. She also served as an intern with the Chamber of Commerce.
Before classes began she scurried around the sprawling KU campus to make sure she knew where to find each of her classes. The historic buildings set atop the hill awed and slightly intimidated her. She couldn’t wait to start.
But just before classes began, Duke learned all her classes would be moved online. She hasn’t set foot on the campus since.
“I was super disappointed. My first thought was, ‘Why am I here?’ because I’m all alone in Lawrence.”
She struggled with her classes. The online format at KU was quite different from those final few weeks of remote learning at IHS. And because she had taken all of her general education classes while still at IHS, her classes at KU were considerably more challenging. Duke’s major is psychology. So right off the bat she was studying cognitive psychology, applied behavioral science and intercultural communication.
“My professors were super nice, super enthusiastic about helping me. It did get easier once I understood the format. But it was a difficult way to learn.”
Though she’s feeling more positive now, Duke said those first few weeks of struggling definitely set her back. She now faces taking all of her finals online after the Thanksgiving break as she continues to live and work in Lawrence.
Making friends has been a struggle, Duke said, thanks to the pandemic.
Douglas County is back in “code red” status because of high infection levels.
“It’s hard to make friends when everyone is wearing masks and social distancing,” she said.
