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Sean Adams Parents/guardians: Kathy and Dale Adams My name is Sean Adams and I have lived in Yellow Springs my entire life. I have gone to the Children’s Center for pre-K, Mills Lawn Elementary School for kindergarten through sixth grade and then I have been at Yellow Springs High School and McKinney Middle School for seventh through 12th grades. I have been looking forward to being able to complete my senior year for most of high school and especially the last part of the year because I knew it would be really relaxing after I finished all my AP exams. Everything that has happened with the pandemic has not only caused me to miss the end of the year, which I have been looking forward to, but has also caused me lots of stress because I feel as if I’m not able to get the proper educa- tion I need to do all my AP exams to the best of my ability. My plans after gradua- tion are still not finalized like they should have been already because of COVID-19. The coronavirus disease has caused me to have to rethink previous choices on where I want to go to college because if we do not have in-class school during the fall, I would want to go to the school with the best online classes instead of the best labs and equipment. I am going to either University of Cincinnati, Ohio State University, Ohio University or Wright State University. During my time at one of these colleges I will be majoring in mechanical engineering and working on a minor in math or electrical engineer- ing, if possible. During my time at YSHS, I have been able to learn lots about many differ- ent fields of study that I could go into in the future. Classes that I have really appreciated YSHS adding in recent years are the engineering classes. These classes have given me the opportunity to learn the basics of engineering in engineering principles and then explore different fields of engineering in robot- ics and aerospace engineering. I was able to confirm that my interest fell into mechanical engineering and was able to learn about the industry more in depth and visit factories and businesses that worked with mechanical engineers. In 10 years, I hope to have been able to graduate from college and have gotten a steady job working on elevators and escalators in a larger city just like my dad does in Columbus, Ohio. Lucy Anderson Parents/guardians: Alpana Sharma, Greg Anderson My senior year did not go as intended. In March, when everything began spiral- ing, it was hard to focus on anything other than what I would be missing. Even now, I have a hard time fathoming how every- thing just fell to pieces in such a short time. I am closing my final high school days feeling anxious, afraid and sad. I won’t be able to say a final “goodbye” to the teachers and peers who marched with me on the path and to the finish line we all stand at now. Through this experience, though, I am leaving with a new appre- ciation for the school community which raised me from a shy first-grader to the graduating senior I am today. The love I have for the educators from whom I’ve been privileged enough to learn, and my fellow seniors and friends with whom I’ve been lucky enough to grow up, is immeasurable. I will take it, and them, with me wherever I go. In many ways, I feel glad to have grown up in Yellow Springs. This community provided me a unique class environment and educational opportunities that don’t exist anywhere else. Being able to foster such close relationships with my teach- ers and get to know practically everyone in my grade and surrounding grades is a special gift this small town has given me. A huge part of my experience was being able to channel my creativity into film photography, which I took part in from its inception as a club in my sopho- more year until now. The darkroom has a special place in my heart, and I will miss coming in after school every week and dedicating myself to that craft. Looking forward, I will be attending the Honors program at Miami University as a psychology major. I later intend to receive my master’s degree in clinical psychology so that, ten years from now, I will be fully equipped to pursue a career in treating mental illness. I am sad to part ways with the district that intellectually raised and nourished me. The hardest part for me will be not having a regularly planned graduation. I am still holding on to the hope that in some way, at some time, the Class of 2020 will get the real and true celebra- tion that we deserve. I want to say “thank you” to every senior, friends and non-friends alike, for shaping my life in ways that cannot even be calculated. I also want to thank all of the teachers — especially Ms. Holly, for providing a three-year long teacher’s assistant position and being an all-around amazing person; Mr. Smith, for encouraging me from day one of freshman year to be my best self; Ms. Lutz, for being not only the best person to talk to but also for giving the most per- sonable and fun classroom experience; and Ms. Morrison, for making math not so scary and for being one of the most put-together and amazing educators I’ve had — as well as every other teacher not mentioned here. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything. Tucker Barclay Parents/guardians: Dionne and Rodney Barclay The pandemic hasn’t really changed my life that much other than I don’t get in the car in the morning and then come back home later. My final year in high school has not been affected in a major way. Online school was shaky at the start, but I think I have a grasp of it now. My relationship with my family has mostly been the same. Although we see each other more, our interactions are pretty much the same as before the pan- demic. My relationship with my friends could be better. I miss seeing my friends during lunch and having a chance to just laugh about things during the school day. After graduation, I plan to go to col- lege to study video game development. What I have found valuable lately are my relationships with my friends that I haven’t been in contact with as much recently due to restrictions from the pandemic. The things I loved about my time at Yellow Springs were how I had access to very helpful teachers and counselors and classes like Ms. Haller’s study skills class. In 10 years, I see myself producing a video game with my cousin. Owen Beam Parents/guardians: Amy Combs, PC Long Well, obviously COVID-19 has made finishing the year like every other crop of seniors impossible. While I wasn’t destroyed by the news that I won’t have an in-person graduating ceremony or won’t experience the senior clap-out, it’s still disheartening. I was looking forward to the clap out most just because the last three years I clapped for the seniors and I was ready to be on the receiving end of it. Being isolated at home is affecting my social relationships in a not-so-negative way. I still communicate with my friends and we all meet up on a group webcam app to chat sometimes. However, this doesn’t really compare to actually going somewhere to hang out and do some- thing. On the family side of things, my mother and my step-dad are the only human contact I’ve had this whole time. I think we all could use a break from this house, as everything has become so monotonous. My plans after graduation are to take a gap year to contemplate what I would like to do for a career while also work- ing and saving money, making it easier for me when I go to college. I plan to get my general education classes done first, improve my GPA and then transfer to the University of Cincinnati. This was my plan, anyway, but with the way things are looking now, we’re probably going to be stuck inside for longer than we initially believed, which puts my “make money now, go to college in a year” plan a little harder to pull off. The most meaningful thing I can take away from all this is that you can plan ahead, months and even years in advance, but those plans can all change in such a short span of time. You can try your hardest to prepare for things life throws at you, but you can’t prepare for it all. What was best about my experience in Yellow Springs was growing up with a lot of amazing people who have been my friends since kindergarten. Ten-year friendships were made by circumstance that we now have to maintain ourselves. Luckily, though, I don’t feel that will be a problem with my core group of people. If I could change anything about my time here, it would have been putting forth more effort into things at school. I won’t claim to have been the best stu- dent, though maybe I had the potential. While it’s too late now to change how my high school career has gone, it’s not too late to have a good and focused college education. Ten years is a lot of time to me at this point in my life. If you had asked me when I was 8 where would I be in 10 years, I wouldn’t have had an answer for you. Even if I did, I’m sure my answer would be nothing like reality today. So if I’m being honest, I don’t know where I will be in 10 years — I’ll just have to keep going forward till I get there. I do hope that wherever I’m at in life that I am content with the choices I’ve made that got me there. Colton Bittner Parents/guardians: Sarah Bittner My time growing up in Yellow Springs has taken up most of my life. I have been 2 Yellow Springs High School  CLASS OF 2020 A Special Section of the Yellow Springs News | May 28, 2020 AC Service The Antioch School Basho Apparel Bentino’s Pizza O u r S p o n s o r s  going to Yellow Springs schools since first grade. Before that, I went to South Charleston. I enjoyed my time in Yellow Springs a lot, actually. I’ve made a lot of friends and a lot of memories after being here for over 10 years. But I am very glad to move on and find what I want to do with my life and with my future. I am excited to leave and go to school. I plan on attending Columbus State and I want to complete the Digital Design and Graphics AAS program. Jacob Bledsoe Parents/guardians: Jessica and Matt Bledsoe I didn’t grow up in Yellow Springs, but it doesn’t feel that way. That is mostly thanks to the people I’ve met here. In the last five years, I’ve formed relationships with people that I hope to maintain for the rest of my life, and have found myself much more at home with the people here than I ever was before I moved here. While I’ve definitely had problems with the school as a whole and its cur- riculum, I am extremely grateful that my attendance at Yellow Springs High School has allowed me the opportunity to build these relationships with my friends, my peers and my teachers/mentors. Unfortunately, the pandemic has robbed my class of a lot of the milestones that most high school students look for- ward to: senior prom, graduation, grad parties, etc. For me personally, I’m also disappointed to not get to play baseball this season, finish my senior project or go on one last School Forest trip, as well as just spending my last three months of high school with my friends. Quarantining has, of course, com- pletely changed my day-to-day life and my relationships. During the quarantine, my relationship with my family has only been strengthened, but my relationships with my friends have been difficult to maintain because I haven’t seen most of them in more than a month. I’m also lucky enough to still be working and it’s great to be able to get out of the house sometimes, even if it’s just walking into town for work. My plan after graduation is to attend Berea College in Kentucky. I really hope that this plan isn’t affected by the current