For St. Ed’s graduating class of 2020, hindsight will forever be frozen in the strange Before and After. As we have all witnessed, the onset of the bizarre demarcation occurred practically overnight just last month. The state of disbelief, however, seems to have no end.
We interviewed senior Bridget Nelson in person before the school shut down. More recently she emailed her thoughts on the newly initiated schooling at home paradigm.
Everything pertinent seemed to be in order Before. College plans were settled and the remainder of the senior year was about to unfold in grand style. Then came the After.
“I’m going to the University of Virginia,” Nelson told us, proudly clad in Cavalier gear. “I like it for a lot of the same reasons I like St. Edward’s. I can pick and choose what I want to do. It’s like a small liberal arts college with the freedom designed in their course structure. Of course, the school in not small anymore, but I can craft my major in the same way I could at St. Edward’s.
“I take a lot of science courses because they interest me more than others. I plan on doing something with biochemistry or environmental science in college. I attribute all of that to my experiences in the science classrooms at St. Edward’s. I have definitely appreciated the academics here.”
That’s not all she appreciated. There was a sports component as well. Despite admitting that “running was not my style,” this year she was on the first girls cross country team ever to make states. She was on the swim team in eighth and ninth grade, and discovered that basketball was “not for me” upon realizing the true meaning of being voted “most improved player” in a one year stint as a sophomore.
“Lacrosse is my major sport,” she said. “I started playing in rec leagues when I was 7 or 8. I gave up club lacrosse in eighth grade to focus on playing for the varsity at St. Edward’s. I looked forward to every season and I’m glad that I grew up with a sport that I love so much.”
The lacrosse season ended with a whimper only four games in. Nelson may pick it up again on a club team at UVA. During the early days of the shutdown, she emailed the following:
“I hope you are doing well in this very confusing time. I’ll try my best to speak for the senior class in our new situation:
“I have gone to Saint Edward’s School my whole life, so I have settled in nicely with the remarkable traditions we have here. Some of the most special traditions lie near the end of senior year – spring season senior night, senior walk, senior prom, final words with first-grade buddies, and of course, graduation.
“These special moments always came to mind whilst studying for a hard calc test or working through a tough sprint in lacrosse practice; they were always there as a sort of hope, a prize. Now that these moments are no longer guaranteed with the recent COVID-19 pandemic, I find myself reflecting a lot. That may be because there’s not much else to do in quarantine, but it may be because I might never play on the lacrosse field again, never sit in a high school classroom again, or never jump off the dock like I saw my older brother do in 2017.
“These things sit small next to the horrible sufferings from COVID-19, and I certainly stand by any precautions my high school makes for the safety of our community. However, these lost traditions need mourning. We, seniors, need to find a way to say goodbye.
“The first thing to go for me was lacrosse season, so I am currently working on how to say goodbye to a sport I have played for most of my life. It is difficult to know that just a few weeks ago, I was probably playing my last high school lacrosse game, and didn’t know. Coach (Rick) Cassara has done a fantastic job and is using virtual scavenger hunts and Words with Friends tournaments to keep team morale high.
“The rest of the year is all very uncertain, but I trust that Saint Edward’s will find a way to make this work like they always have.
“In the meantime, it’s best to stay busy. I’ve been spending a lot of time with my dog, Lucy, who is thrilled to have us at home with her all day. I’ve also finally started to make a dent in some of the books on my unread bookshelf, which has been nice. My mom and I are trying to stay active, and this quarantine has brought us much closer, both in our relationship and in our personal space.”
