Jammy Harris feels heartbroken at the prospect of losing her chance to attend her high school commencement with her classmates because of the coronavirus restrictions. Photo courtesy of Jammy Harris
I, Jammy Harris, am a senior at Sunnyside High in Fresno, California. During this time, I might not be able to walk across the stage for my graduation. There is a chance that I won’t shake the hands of the adults who have impacted my life and receive a diploma in my hand. To be completely honest, it hurts my heart to know that I might not have the chance to move the tassel over to initiate new beginnings. I won’t be able to sit next to the class of 2020 and shout “Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat!” I don’t think it’s the greatest feeling for a student who wants to enter adulthood.
Furthermore, there are other districts with students who are receiving homework and are able to contact their teachers regularly. When it comes to high school, I have not received homework. There have been no emails, Google Classrooms, phone calls, nothing regarding how to get credit for my classes. I have heard other schools are using Zoom. If my school starts this in a few days, it’s going to be difficult because I am a hands-on learner. How am I going to be able to focus on a laptop for hours and not get the one-on-one, in-person support that I need?
I have a 3.5 GPA right now which is fine, but I want the opportunity to raise it. I hope school resumes because my learning is important to me. I will not receive the aid from my teachers or tutors to help with scholarships either. Scholarships can get complicated, especially if you are not the best at writing essays. The school has exercises to help students with their scholarship essays. These exercises help keep your mind in a school mindset, but being out of school isn’t helping my grades.
To continue, my entire senior year experience has been thrown off. This year already has had a rough start, but then school events stop, sports are on pause and school gatherings are canceled. It is honestly a lot on any student’s emotions. On the Friday when we were released from school, we didn’t even have the chance to get our classwork. Throughout that week, I have a leadership class and we have a timesheet. Within this timesheet it involves us going to school events and having pictures at these events and it is the majority of our grade. Now if I didn’t go to as many at the beginning of this semester, where does that put me? My teacher wasn’t sure about any of our grades because the coronavirus became a really big problem.
Finally, the coronavirus has affected my education by not allowing myself and others to learn in a way that is best for us. I am not going to be in a classroom for a month, or even longer, and I am expected to be able to continue my education regularly when school is back. I will be expected to remember everything we just learned after a break of over a month. When I go back, I know I will have the pressures of due dates back-to-back. Being a senior is already hard enough because if we do not pass two classes then we do not get to graduate with our class. The coronavirus might even push the graduation back by more than a month. The point is, our graduation is not even guaranteed.
In conclusion, the coronavirus has affected my education in many ways. It has affected my grades and the way I’m able to learn. The coronavirus has taken me away from school. School is where I’m able to focus and actually thrive with my peers helping and encouraging me. The coronavirus has minimized my ability to be successful in the classroom. It has affected my life just as much as it has affected the life of my fellow classmates.
Jammy Harris has been in the foster system for several years, switching out of five different homes. A senior in at Sunnyside High School in Fresno, California, she is a very involved student, participating in the Local Control and Accountability Plan, Ujima, Upward Bound, Link Crew and serving as president and stomp coordinator of the Black Student Union. She is also an artist in the Rap Club and a football manager. Outside of school, she participates in a program called The Fresno Black Girl Magic Project as an intern assistant, is junior secretary and junior leadership at her church and a babysitter. As she gets older, Jammy does not let her past circumstances determine her future. Her work on overcoming all that she’s been through has earned her a Student of Promise award. She has also represented Region 9 in San Francisco for being able to overcome and work through past challenges.
