The spread of COVID-19 shut down schools and restricted everyone to their houses, heavily altering student life in Gloucester. Students are adjusting from going to school every day to staying at home, alone. Without the structure of physically going to school, the new challenge for students is managing time and remembering to stay up to date on assignments.

The shutdown has been especially hard on Gloucester High School seniors. Now in the fourth week of quarantine, many of them are finally grasping the reality that their final moments of high school have been stolen. They have grown to miss the routine of going to school every day and seeing their friends, and even the rare few students who don’t miss their routine regret not getting the “senior experience.”

Among the seniors interviewed recently by the Gazette-Journal, many said that the workload was not massively large or overwhelming, but the process of keeping up with it and finding discipline by themselves had become difficult. One student shared that she had trouble finding motivation when there’s nothing to look forward to in the near future.

It also seems that during this time different schools are handling online work in a similar fashion. When asked about his Governor’s School work compared to his high school, senior and likely valedictorian Justin Burgess said, “They have a similar protocol as the high school has had in regards to having online classes, so doing work for both is about the same.”

When asked if he was worried that he may no longer be able to make a valedictorian speech at graduation, Burgess said, “I am confident that I won’t be able to make a speech at graduation, but in all honesty I’m not worried; we got way bigger fish to fry than me making a speech.”

While graduation isn’t officially canceled, there are many events that have been canceled. Many sports were canceled along with the school year, including the high school’s spring track and field season. Ainsley Miller, a member of the track and field team, said, “I am very disappointed in ending my track career early, like I’m sure all other seniors are. There were quite a few seniors and they all were pretty bummed about it all.”

In addition to sports, many musical performances of both band and choir have been canceled. Farren Winter, a main cast member of the high school production of “Mamma Mia,” said, “As of now ‘Mamma Mia’ is canceled.” When asked if any kind of rescheduling was a possibility, she shared that with the uncertainty of the situation there is no official way to reschedule. She said that she’s still hanging on to a thread of hope that “the show must go on.”

“The show was already coming together incredibly well,” she said. “It definitely hurts knowing how amazing the performance was going to be.”

Other canceled chorus events include the district assessment, the Music in Our Schools Month concert, the performance in New York City at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and the spring concert.

Students in the band were likely just as disappointed as chorus students who lost the musical, when their group trip to DisneyWorld was canceled. A band student said that in addition to that trip, the spring band concert and the awards banquet were both canceled. The last full-sized concert that the band members got to do was all the way back in December, and many who will not be playing in college will not get the opportunity to perform again. The band student shared that while the banquet will be held online it will not be the same. This was an especially important year because it was the first class of high schoolers to spend all four years with the current band director.

Beyond the big cancellations, many students are really starting to miss the little things. Senior Andrew Castenada, said, “Fast food dominates my day dreams.” Winter said that she misses having events to look forward to, reminiscing on a musical gig of hers, independent of the GHS Chorus, which was canceled.

Underclassmen have been affected, as well.

Rebekah Schrader, a freshman, has been coping with the quarantine fairly well. “My mom’s kind of annoyed because the stores don’t have anything, but other than that we’re good.” While spending most of her time indoors and online, she has still been able to keep up with her schoolwork through the internet. However, when asked on how it was to work from home, she said that it feels “boring. I hate it, and it might affect my grades, because I might get behind and not do it.”

Caleb O’Malley, also a freshman, said, “We’re not really worried about anything.” He has spent most of his free time staying isolated with his pets, and watching Netflix. O’Malley is also struggling to stay on top of his virtual schooling. He said he recently had forgotten to check for new assignments and found himself behind.

For junior Eden Smith, quarantine has been on the harsher end of things. “It’s been a little rough for us because I’m immune-deficient, and my dad’s a diabetic, so we’ve had to maintain self-isolation for the most of the break. So, we haven’t gone out except for groceries, so it’s been a little hard on us.”

Smith spends most of her time playing video games and doing schoolwork. “I actually had to quit my job, I couldn’t work from home, and my mom is out of a job, she’s a school nurse so she has no work, and my dad’s retired.”

Aside from the negative, the switch to online school has actually been good for Smith. “Schoolwork doesn’t bother me because I take two computer classes, so everything is already online accessible. This is so much easier, since I already have a lot of medical issues, so being able to focus on bettering myself and still getting work done has been a tremendous relief.”

Daniel Walsh, also a junior, is enjoying quarantine. “I’m spending a lot more time outdoors than I would normally. I’ve been boating and kayaking a lot. I’ve been playing guitar, sleeping a lot.”

However, schoolwork is at the back of his mind. “I haven’t logged onto the computer with school intent once since the break.” School is not Daniel’s favorite place to be, and he cherishes this time of solitude.

“I don’t really like anyone at Gloucester High School. I like to sleep; I can wake up whenever I want and that’s pretty nice,” he said. “I have more time to just do what I want to do.”

Among the students interviewed, many agreed that this time, while lonely, was great for catching up on schoolwork, exercising, and especially spending time with family. Whether it be productivity or keeping their mental health up in this stressful time, many students are doing their best to create their ideal environment while sharing time with their family.