Senior chooses early graduation

Skye Pournazari
Jayme Kemper South Nodaway senior

BARNARD, Mo. — South Nodaway senior Jayme Kemper said the COVID-19 pandemic “definitely” played a role in her choosing to graduate a semester early in December.

“I figure the chances of having the events we would have had, just probably won’t happen, based on how it’s going on now,” she said.

Kemper plans to study business administration at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. She chose it as a way to start her college career but also provide herself a variety of options post-graduation.

When comparing the beginning of her senior year to the beginning of her junior year, she said one of the biggest changes is the amount of social distancing required.

“At the beginning of the year, I was really disappointed, because I thought it would be just how it used to be, but it’s not at all,” Kemper said. She’s not in a lot of classes with her friends or even other seniors this semester.

“It’s really hard for me to be around the same people all the time,” she said. “Honestly at first, I didn’t really care (about being in school), but now that it’s coming to an end, I don’t want to be quarantined for half of the rest of the year. I know last year I was kind of like excited because school got canceled, but this year it’s like different.”

Kemper, who takes online classes for dual credit, is no stranger to virtual learning, but hasn’t had to try virtual learning for her regular courses yet this year.

“I’ve always done that, so it’s not really different,” she said. “I decided I wanted to graduate early whenever school got canceled the first time. It’s stress on everyone because you don’t know whenever you’re about to get sent home. Nobody really knows, like honestly I don’t really know who would be considered my contacts. So you don’t really know if you’re considered theirs. So it’s just all a big confusion.”

After the R-IV Board of Education approved a mask mandate, Kemper said it alleviated one stress for her, but provided another.

“It kind of makes me feel like the virus might spread more if we’re not quarantining,” she said. “Cause I know a lot of people don’t really want to wear the masks, so they pull it down all the time.”

Because the district has a mask mandate, Kemper said the school will just assume the students were wearing masks and not send them home. She remarked that it’s not everyone who lets their masks slip, “but I only notice the ones who aren’t wearing it.”

Kemper thinks the school has done a good job trying to keep everyone in school. She said a few teachers try really hard to social distance while others don’t enforce it as much.

“I think they did pretty good until everyone got sent home last Friday,” she said. “I don’t know what happened there.”

Kemper expects dealing with the pandemic in college will be very different than in the high school setting. She’s less likely to know people quarantining at UMKC and that will make it a lot less stressful.

With regard to upcoming vaccines, Kemper said she’s not sold on the idea of a quick vaccine.

“I don’t see them coming up with a vaccine that’s healthy and works,” she said. “There’s already thoughts about how vaccines aren’t healthy for you, like the ones that they’ve developed for a long time. I don’t know how well a vaccine that they’ve developed in less than a year would work.”

Editor’s Note

This feature was published in The Maryville Forum as a two-part series on Thursday, Dec. 3 and Thursday, Dec. 10. Articles may have been edited for space within the print edition, but will be available at full length at The Forum’s online focus on COVID-19 in the Community.

To give readers an idea of student knowledge and concerns regarding the pandemic, one student’s story will be posted each weekday at 6 p.m. through the end of 2020.