CLASS OF 2021

There was plenty of discussion about the class of 2020 and how their graduation was upended by the pandemic. But the class of 2021 has experienced an entire year of the “new normal,” – not to mention an interruption due to a wild winter storm – all while trying to make the most of their last days in high school. Here’s a snapshot of what life has been like for a couple of our neighborhood seniors.

Story by

RENEE UMSTED

Photography by

JESSICA TURNER

when life gives you lemons, paint a parking spot

When the class painted their parking spots at the beginning of the year, senior Sophie Anderson paid homage to a book and a brand she and her friends love to wear during cross country practice. Using white, she painted When Life Gives You Lululemons on a pastel yellow background.

Last year, Anderson was supposed to lead the rest of Ursuline Academy’s ambassadors at graduation, welcoming parents and grandparents and directing them to their seats. But because of the pandemic, the ambassadors didn’t attend the graduation.

Many of last year’s events were canceled as a result of COVID-19, but Ursuline has worked to make this year as close to normal as possible.

Anderson and her classmates still had their Senior Birthday Bash and Senior Latte Day, when Ursuline provided brewed coffee and plenty of syrups and creamers. Her classmates were particularly excited about the Starbucks creamers, though Anderson prefers tea.

Other events still took place, with modifications. Food served during the senior breakfast was pre-packaged, and the whole school was able to participate in intramurals, though it wasn’t as rowdy and spirited as it has been.

“There wasn’t that cohesive, all four grades together. Everyone’s dressed up in their colors, so it’s these distinct splotches of green, yellow, red and blue,” Anderson says. “It’s such a great bond. We didn’t super have that this year just because we were all separated.”

Seniors also had their retreat, when they watched She’s the Man on the lawn while enjoying snacks from food trucks and a coffee bar serving specialty drinks like mochas and hazelnut lattes.

“They (Ursuline) really try to do what’s best for the girls and try to make sure everything happens and in the safest way possible or doesn’t happen if it’s not safe,” Anderson says.

The same seems to be true of other institutions, specifically the colleges to which Anderson applied. Prospective students haven’t been allowed to visit campus, so schools have made most of their admissions events virtual.

“I’ve done an ungodly amount of virtual tours, visits,” Anderson says. Those virtual tours took the form of informational sessions, breakout rooms and pre-recorded videos.

After taking the ACT once, writing 23 college essays and submitting nine college applications – she likes odd numbers – Anderson has decided to attend Fordham University in New York as a pre-med student starting next fall. Though she’s never been on campus, she’s not worried about it.

“I just know it’s where I’m supposed to go,” she says.

For Anderson, it’s a gut feeling, the same one she felt when she realized she wanted to attend Ursuline. And she knows the importance of having that feeling; as an ambassador, she often asks prospective students whether they can picture themselves attending the school.

The future pre-med major plans to travel to New York City and “creepily walk around the walls” of Fordham since she can’t actually go on campus.

During the summer, Anderson says she’ll try to get a job in retail, but she won’t be able to get an internship, since many of them still aren’t available. She also wants to spend time with her friends before they head off to college. Maybe they’ll go to the beach again, have a round two of their spring break trip to Florida. But they’re still tossing around ideas, like taking a day trip to Austin or renting a cabin in East Texas for the Fourth of July.

Whatever they decide, they will undoubtedly remember this year, their year to be seniors, to graduate, to prepare for, get excited for and stress about college, as something special, something different.

“I think our grade really just came together in a way it hadn’t before,” Anderson says. “Just because of that shared experience and that deeper appreciation for what we had before.”

saved by the bell: covid, college and classes

other high school students might have taken the summer off after they lost their internships because of COVID-19. But not Courtney Bell. Never one to let her circumstances distract her from her goals, she decided to do research and continue learning on her own when she wasn’t able to work with a cardiologist in McKinney like she had planned.

That’s just one example of how Bell, who’s involved in the biomedical club at Ursuline Academy, responded to the unprecedented past year.

Unlike many other high school juniors, Bell was fortunate enough to be able to tour a couple colleges she was considering, Loyola Marymount University and Santa Clara University, in late February and early March 2020. Some Ursuline alumnae showed her libraries, dining halls and even some popular student spots off campus.

“It was really crazy to see how empty the colleges were, because it was maybe a handful of students on campus compared to how many they have whenever school is in session and they’re fully in person,” Bell says.

Then there were social events and traditions at Ursuline that Bell missed out on after the transition to virtual learning. She still hasn’t worn the dress she bought for prom last year.

And the move to distance learning itself was an adjustment. Teachers at Ursuline successfully taught students how to use Microsoft Teams and other digital tools, but as good as technology is, Bell acknowledges talking to someone on a computer screen isn’t the same as talking in person.

“That whole in-class situation is kind of transformed whenever you’re online and just looking at people through a screen,” Bell says.

After a few weeks of on line-only instruction at the beginning of the year, Ursuline began allowing students to attend classes in person part of the time, using a hybrid format.

“I left feeling the most engaged I’ve ever felt in a class after so long of being online and just having those virtual classes, and so it really was a boost, I would say, academically, psychologically as well,” Bell says.

Ursuline has worked to put on some of the events seniors anticipate, such as the winter formal, the Snowball. The school also pushed back the powder puff game, which normally takes place in November, to this spring.

Earlier in the year, Bell, who’s a student council member, helped some first-year students acclimate to their new school and begin to form connections with each other in an event called Froshfest. She asked about 20 seniors to get involved, including in a panel discussion where they answered questions and gave advice to the youngest class.

“Those are the things, too, that really help the seniors as we’re getting ready to graduate, just have those great memories of high school that we’ve had every single year just so that this year doesn’t seem less than or too different than the rest of our high school experience,” Bell says.

By May 1, after narrowing down the six schools she was admitted to, Bell had to decide between Santa Clara and Fordham University. She’s considering a variety of factors, including the safety and culture of the campus and surrounding areas, diversity, student activities and, in line with her focus on her future, the format and success rates of the pre-med program and the availability of job and internship opportunities nearby.

After she graduates, she wants to use the summer to spend quality time with her friends and family. And she’ll be preparing for college – picking out dorm decorations and maybe landing an internship or an opportunity to shadow a doctor.

“We don’t know about travel yet,” Bell says. “But we will see.”