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'Don't take it for granted': Stratford students reminisce on senior year

As students around Central Georgia spend their final semester at home, two seniors tell the class of 2021 to enjoy every moment.

MACON, Ga. — This is not the way seniors in Central Georgia expected to end their school year. No prom, no senior picnics and for the most part, no end-of-the-year celebrations.

Stratford Academy senior Mary Elaine Mitchell has been playing sports for as long as she can remember. But when her senior season for golf and soccer were cut short, it was hard for her to believe.

"I won't be able to play with those teammates again and those coaches, so it was definitely tough," said Mitchell.

Mitchell, along with her classmates and many others in Central Georgia, have been working online for the last eight weeks. 

She said her senior year looks a lot different than what she had planned.

"I watched two older brothers go through Stratford, so I've been able to see Baccalaureate, the senior picnic, graduation, senior projects, all these different things, and it really… it does get me sometimes when I think about that," she said.

Credit: Mary Elaine Mitchell

Despite being away from their friends and faculty, Mitchell and classmate Riley Davis said they still feel the love from their teachers.

"As much as they can, I really appreciate all of the stuff they've done to make us feel celebrated," said Davis.

Credit: Riley Davis

Between social media shout outs, cap and gown parades and roses delivered on what would have been prom night, they both say it means a lot.

One thing is still up in the air: graduation.

"I'd like to get that walk across the stage and handed my diploma to kind of like, seal it all off," said Davis.

The official ceremony has not been canceled yet, but school administrators say they are looking at back-up dates. They just want to make sure seniors get the celebration they deserve.

Davis is headed to Georgia State University in the fall to major in neuroscience, and Mitchell will be playing basketball and soccer at Covenant College with a major in biology and minor in business.

Both seniors have a message for the class of 2021: don't take anything for granted.

"Just enjoy it. Have fun. Don't take for granted any of the small memories, because they really do make a great impression on you and just enjoy where you are, but know the best is yet to come," said Mitchell.

"People that are grown up tell you, 'You’re gonna miss it, you’re gonna miss it,' and so you’ve always known that, but nobody could have seen this coming," said Davis. "I say to younger grades: pay attention to the little things, because obviously you’re like, 'oh, Sadie [Hawkins], Prom....' You know to hold those important memories, but I didn’t realize until now how much I would miss the little things too."

She said things like walking through the halls of Stratford are something she didn't realize she would miss.

"It seems so simple now... thinking that I won’t ever get to do that again as a student. I miss those things and just sitting in class with your favorite teachers, or sitting at the lunch table, just something so simple, but to be able to sit at a lunch table with your friends and just talk... hold on to those things too and pay attention to the little things, because you’ll want to remember that once you leave high school," Davis said.

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