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Sam Verst's story is the last of four stories from present or former Falmouth Outlook student reporters and what they are going through with the cancellation of in-school classes.
Last Monday I was given what at the moment felt like the worst news I had been told in my life: schools throughout the state of Kentucky would be closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.
Little did I know that there was even worse news to come the following day. Last Tuesday, the 2020 spring sports season was officially cancelled. Throughout the past week, I have done a great deal of reflecting and reminiscing due to the feeling of shock that I am experiencing.
The hardest part of our current situation is simply the idea that as seniors we experienced our lasts together at a time that was far too soon. It is so difficult to accept a goodbye that you were not prepared for, and even harder when it comes out of nowhere and was so unexpected. I, along with my fellow classmates, walked through the hallways, gathered at our lockers with our friends, ate lunch with our crew, and sat in a high school class for the very last time on March 13, 2020. In our minds we would just be going on a short break and would be back in session once this out-of-the-blue virus died down. Little did we know that a great world pandemic was on its way, and we had no idea what consequences it was bringing along with it.
My high school career has been a very memorable one. I have been so lucky to have been given so many great opportunities through softball, volleyball, basketball, Student Council, National Honor Society, Senior Council, Future Business Leaders of America, and the Champions Youth Advisory Board.
Our small-town community is so special, and I feel so grateful to have gotten to be a part of it for the past twelve years of school. I am so sad to have lost this remarkable connection with the people around me.
There are so many events that our senior class will have missed out on, such as Class Night, Scholarship Night, “Senior Skip Day”, prom, the senior prank, the typical Graduation and Project Grad, Baccalaureate, spring sports seasons, and senior nights. We have worked so hard the past 12 years to reach this point, and now we do not get a chance to experience any of it. This is not anyone’s fault and there is nobody to blame, so it is hard to accept. However, I believe that everything happens for a reason, so I hope to be able to take away something from it.
Softball season being cancelled has definitely taken the biggest toll on me. When I began playing Varsity in the sixth grade, I saw many seniors play one their last games whether it was my team or an opponent. I always thought about what my senior night would be like and how those players felt. My end of time on the diamond for PCHS felt like it was an eternity away.
Although, I had so much in all of those years that seven years flew by in a heartbeat. My senior night was nothing like any of the possibilities I imagined. Instead of having the lonely senior night like I always pictured-since I was the lone player in my class up until this season-I did not get a senior night at all. I always worried about hardly anyone showing up to watch my team on that night since I did not have any classmates on my team, but little did I know that would be the smallest of my problems. That feeling I saw in so many seniors face when their time came to an end made its way to me, but when it was my time it was ten times worse.
Those seniors got to play knowing it would potentially be their last game. I got told before my senior season even started that I had played my last game as a Pendleton County Wildcat, only it was in my junior season. It is detrimental to me and I will never forget it nor probably get over it.
However, like I said, I believe everything happens for a reason. In this situation, my reasoning I have come up with is that I was wanted to go out on top: My career ended with a handful of broken records, being 38th District Champions, 10th Region Champions, State Sectional 5 Champions, and KHSAA State Quarterfinalists during my junior season alone. This has been a ride that I will never forget.
This rare occurrence is so unfortunate and tremendously heartbreaking. It is going to be hard to capture the extent of all of the what-could-have-been and what-ifs, and I’m not sure that we will all be able to accept or forget about what we have missed out on. I am heartbroken knowing that I have to go separate ways from all of my classmates, but I am at ease knowing how incredible each person is, so I am confident everyone will do great with whatever they choose to do this coming fall. I wish the rest of the class of 2020 the best of luck! We are going to do such amazing things and the real world is calling our name.