The Effects Of The Pandemic

TwitchAddict October 9, 2021
The Effects Of The Pandemic

Mary Monroe, a Midland resident, had her preparations in place. She was finishing high school a year ahead of her peers and planning to spend a year in New York City auditioning for theater roles. She’d fill out a portfolio and start applying to institutions.

These goals, however, were scheduled for 2020 and 2021. Her plans were forced to shift due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Monroe, who was 16 at the time, was not alone. The education goals of many recent high school graduates and college students have been uprooted and revised. Some students wasted over two years of their college experience.

“Having everything move so suddenly was obviously difficult, especially being involved in an industry that is so centered on in-person connections,” Monroe said. “It was definitely difficult, but I just tried to remember that as disappointing as it is not to be able to audition in New York, there are people who are dealing with COVID much more severely.”

Monroe began her K-12 schooling at the age of two, after a pediatrician advised her to do so because she was cognitively ready at the time. This put her on track to graduate from Dow High School in 2020 at the age of 15.

She had not yet decided on a school to go after New York, but she knew she wanted to study musical theater. However, the epidemic has pushed her back two years and forced her to cancel her trip to New York. She couldn’t develop her résumé once the theatrical industry shut down, so she took two gap years in 2020 and 2021, not knowing if she’d be able to take online classes for the 2021-22 academic year.

Monroe, on the other hand, stayed in Midland and began private training and Twitch broadcasting performances. She also performed with the Midland Center for the Arts, both virtually and in person.

She currently intends to apply for the school year 2022-2023.

Evan Trotter-Wright, who also wanted to study drama in college, began his studies this autumn at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. While he stated that he hopes to enjoy a typical college experience, the road to their point was not without bumps.

He graduated from Dow High School this spring and was unable to attend any college tours in person, with the exception of one at Northwestern University in February 2020. Because he was unable to remain on top of the procedure, he was unable to begin applying to institutions.

Allie Trotter-Wright, his older sister, was already a University of Michigan student. She was ready to conclude her sophomore year at Dow High School when the pandemic struck higher education across the country. This had a significant impact on her education and college prospects.

She plans to attend medical school after graduation and is majoring in creative writing with minors in music and Spanish. As a result of her workload and her inability to keep up with online coursework, she struggled to keep up with school. Fortunately, her grades did not drop significantly.

In addition, Allie Trotter-Wright was preparing for an EMT class with a Michigan-based ambulance business in the summer of 2020. This was also canceled, but there was an Oklahoma-based version. This course, on the other hand, would be entirely online, with only a few sections requiring her to attend in person.

She opted to take it while visiting family in Arkansas because she didn’t know when the pandemic would stop.

Allie Trotter-Wright had always wanted to study abroad in South America in the fall of 2022, but owing to COVID regulations, she will most likely be unable to do so. She will, however, be able to travel to Spain.

She also lost a significant amount of her collegiate experience. Many of her classes, such as her biology lab, were not well suited to being taken online. Because the course was online, she was unable to learn numerous lab methods or facts that she should have learnt during the course.

The social side of her college experience, on the other hand, was mostly lost. Although most UM classes were not held in person, Allie Trotter-Wright lived in Ann Arbor and worked on campus. During her high school years, she said she lost touch with a lot of her pals.

Allie Trotter-Wright explained, “It made it difficult to keep up with friends, know how they were doing, make new acquaintances, and be social with people.”

Evan Trotter-Wright stated his final year of high school was cut short when his junior and senior musicals were canceled. And sports were not taking place as normal.

Evan Trotter-Wright observed, “There were definitely a lot of squandered opportunities from high school.” “However, now that I’m here and things are going in the right direction, I think my college experience is going to be very regular.”

Monroe, Evan, and Allie Trotter-Wright are sad, but they are not offended that institutions and governments are taking safeguards against the coronavirus. As a healthcare practitioner, Allie Trotter-Wright noted that while UM’s COVID response may have been better, she is glad the school took safeguards.

Fortunately, these pupils have goals for the future. Monroe is applying to colleges and may end up in New York sooner rather than later if she is admitted. Her favorite school preference, though, is Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio.

Monroe admitted that while she is no longer ahead of her colleagues, she has accepted the setbacks and that it is not all bad.