With spring right around the corner, this is typically the time of year when South High seniors have roommates and colleges lined up for next fall. However, COVID-19 and online learning have impacted many seniors’ academic success and interfered with the college application process.

Senior Sarah Dixon plans to go to Kansas University next fall and she felt that not being in person made applying to college more difficult than normal.

“COVID definitely made learning a much more personally-driven thing. The most inconvenient part of choosing a college was that there weren’t any senior workshops, and I personally thought it was very hard to navigate college applications,” said Dixon.

On the other hand, senior Cole Stanley felt virtual learning during COVID-19 helped prepare him for being a more independent student in college at Mizzou next fall.

“Before COVID-19 I was not very disciplined when it came to turning my work in on time. Not having a teacher in class with me led me to learn how to motivate myself to keep up with my academics and increase my chances of getting a scholarship from Mizzou. I have always wanted to be a tiger and I am excited to continue my academic success there next year,” said Stanley.

For senior Mason Lange, he plans to play college football at Quincy University next fall. Lange said he felt that COVID-19 almost damaged his opportunity to play in college.

“I committed to Quincy in January, but having a shortened football season this fall initially had me concerned if I was going to have the opportunity to play in college. We weren’t able to do a lot of conditioning prior to the season because of COVID-19 restrictions,” said Lange

Senior James Stone plans to go to Abilene Christian University next fall and he felt that he had to apply and learn about a college he liked all on his own with no assistance from South High.

“It was very hard to find information on colleges because very few allowed visits. It was more challenging because I wasn’t able to speak to teachers or counselors at school for help either. I basically had to find out everything on my own,” said Stone.

Stone also added that online learning was very harmful to many students’ grades and learning skills.

“I personally cannot learn well online at all and COVID 100% hurt my academic success, as I am sure it did to many other students. Having quarters made it even harder because I was learning a whole college biology curriculum in only 9 weeks. Online learning definitely made me a more independent and self-accountable learner, but I know I can’t say the same for many other students,” he said.