student spotlight
By Grace Lenehan Vaughn
Persevering Amid a Pandemic Get to know Westerville Central graduate Juliet Bernard
J
uliet Bernard is a Westerville Central High School graduate with the whole world ahead of her. As a National Merit Scholarship recipient and a 9-year member of her local 4-H chapter, Bernard’s hard work has paid off as she continues her education at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan this fall. However, her happy future did not come without a few unexpected hiccups.
Bernard is part of the senior class whose spring semester was completely upended by COVID-19. They were robbed of all perks and celebrations that come with senior year: prom, senior night and graduation. Bernard, a star student and track athlete, struggled with the adjustments. “It was a little disappointing to not be able to do those things,” she says. “But at the same time, it’s understandable
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because you want to try to keep those around you and your loved ones safe, so you don’t want to have that risk of exposing anyone.” Online classes were another odd turn to her senior year. Bernard had finished most of her high school credits by spring semester so was taking a total of five AP classes for college credit at home. As someone with intuitive ADHD, losing that school routine was a struggle. “Without having that classroom schedule where I had to be in school and had to do all that, it was a little bit more difficult to create that structure at the home atmosphere,” she says. “But overall, I think it was good with the teachers because they would always check in with us.” Despite these challenges, Bernard persevered, earning the National Merit Scholarship, All-Ohio honors in track and a spot on Hillsdale’s track team. Bernard is majoring in pre-med with www.westervillemagazine.com
