A special group: The Mountain Brook High School Class of 2020 is ready for the future, despite COVID-19 and economic clouds

The seniors in the recently graduated Class of 2020 at Mountain Brook High School are “a very special group,” said MBHS Principal Philip Holley.

That special nature was apparent to school staff long before the COVID-19 pandemic cut short the group’s senior year, which ended with graduation June 5, Holley said.

“Even as 10th graders, we noticed they come together, they love each other, they care about each other and they are all really close,” he said.

The group made good on that early promise. They are “intelligent, talented and hard-working” and left a “lasting legacy on campus,” Holley said this spring.

So, Holley said, it was tough to see these students miss many special moments in their last semester due to COVID-19.

“To see their senior year end like this, it makes me sad,” Holley said.

However, Holley’s been very impressed with how they’ve handled it, saying they’ve handled it with “class and positivity.”

Several members of the Class of 2020, including Isabel Elkus, Johnny Nathan, Hadley Bryant and Logan Brewer, shared their experience at MBHS, the effect of COVID-19 on their senior year and their plans for college.

They discussed the uncertain world they face, with a deadly virus and a possible long recession.

The seniors also described what they see as the strength of their own generation and the way they believe it will make the world abetter place.

GOOD TIMES

“School was fun for me,” said Elkus, the SGA Service Award winner and one of 19 Mountain Brook Honor Graduates. “Everyday I went to school excited to do something.”

“It’s an extremely competitive school with rigorous coursework (and) the teachers do an excellent job of keeping all of the students engaged with fun activities,” said Nathan, an Honor Graduate and winner of the Mountain Brook Ambassadors Club Service Award.

“It was fun in the way that I imagine working in Silicon Valley is fun: something new and better everyday, even if it’s just being better than who you were yesterday,” said Bryant, who participated in performing arts at MBHS.

“I played football…and I loved every moment of it,” said Brewer, winner of the Nicholas Franklin Pierce Memorial Scholarship.

BEING CHALLENGED

Of course, MBHS is a challenging environment, and the coursework and other demands could be “stressful and tiring,” Elkus said.

However, even the stress had a benefit in preparing students for college.

“I know how to balance my life because of the challenges I dealt with,” said Elkus, who plans to attend UCLA in the fall.

The students said they grew better and stronger at MBHS.

Brewer grew intellectually, he said, and he also learned discipline and work ethic while playing sports.

Elkus matured between her sophomore and senior years. “My classes got harder, and I learned how to push myself more to pursue a more strenuous workload,’ she said.

SUDDEN CLOSURE

The pandemic — and the closure of schools in March — had a huge effect on seniors.

“Missing these last few months of school was devastating,” Elkus said.

Many traditional events — prom, senior banquet, senior parade, senior skip day — had to be cancelled or restructured. Students also missed the chance to take part in sports and other activities.

“The day school let out was one day before the opening night of the spring musical,” Bryant said. “I was going to play Velma Kelly in ‘Chicago: High School Edition.’ I missed my final spring concert with the choir I’ve been a part of for four years.”

There was an interpersonal toll. “There are some friends I haven't seen since we got out in March…that I would've loved the chance to say congrats and goodbye to,” Elkus said.

The abrupt closure also “separated me from my teachers who I have grown to love so much,” she said.

But there were compensations.

School administrators did “everything they can to create new memories for us,” Brewer said, with the creation of a senior memory video as one example.

Nathan described the activity that was substituted for the usual senior parade, where students walk through their old elementary schools.

“Students decorated their cars and drove through the streets in Mountain Brook while families stood in their yards and cheered us on,” he said.

“All these things and more are specific to just our senior class and something we will always have to remember,” Brewer said.

Bryant was pragmatic. “At the end of the day, you have to take it all in stride and look for the best solution,” she said.

Elkus placed the experience of her class in a broader context. “I'm sad that I'll never get to describe my memories of prom to my kids one day,” she said. “However, we’re living in special times right now, and I’ll have plenty of other stories to tell as we live through this history in the making.”

Nathan took a broader view of his MBHS experience. “High school is about so much more than just your final semester,” he said.

“We may not have gotten a typical end to our high-school careers (but) we still got all of those memories along the way, and that is what I will cherish,” he said.

OFF TO COLLEGE

All four seniors are attending college in the fall. Elkus will major in communications at UCLA and wants to become a journalist.

Nathan will major in biology on a pre-med track at The University of Alabama.

Bryant, who wants to work in theatre or film, will major in playwriting at Emory University.

Brewer — an aspiring orthopedic surgeon — will study biomedical sciences at Auburn University.

Like most high-school seniors, they’re excited about that next step. “I know Los Angeles is far, but I'm excited to expand my horizons a bit and explore a completely new and different culture,” Elkus said.

“It's the next chapter in my life and I can't wait to enter into it,” Nathan said.

“I’ve looked forward to college since elementary school,” Bryant said.

“I’ve prepared for so long, and I can’t wait to finally get started on the rest of my life,” she said.

Earlier this summer, the students were concerned that COVID-19 could disrupt their on-campus college experience as freshmen.

Since then, Alabama and Auburn have announced they will hold in-person classes. At press time, there was no word on some U.S. schools.

“Freshman year is when we get to know people, perhaps through rush, and we familiarize ourselves with the campus and community,” Elkus said. “Not having a true freshman year could potentially affect every other year of my college experience.”

“It’s horrible to think that my first year in college could potentially be online,” Bryant said.

ECONOMIC CLOUDS

There's also plenty of bad economic news for these graduates, including predictions that COVID-19 could cause a years-long recession.

“Even before this COVID-19 outbreak, our generation was told quite often that we would have to bear the brunt of the increasing national debt,” Nathan said. “Now, we will also have to face the economical effects of the coronavirus.”

“Just finding a summer job has been tricky, so I can’t imagine how difficult finding a job in the arts will be if the economy stays the way it has been,” Bryant said.

“I’m hopeful that our economy will rebound during the time I’m in school,” Brewer said.

They have lingering anxiety regarding the possible prolonged impact of COVID-19, especially without a vaccine.

“We’re living in uncertain times,” Elkus said. “Life will not be ‘normal’ for a while, which scares and saddens me.”

Bryant focused on the pandemic’s personal effect. “I really would like to hug my grandmother again,” she said.

Brewer expressed guarded optimism. “The world won't be the same after this, but I think the things we have learned will help us turn back to normalcy in the near future,” he said.

He saw a possible good side to the pandemic, which “has reminded us just how fragile life is and to appreciate everything you have been given,” Brewer said.

“Once this pandemic is behind us, I think we’ll all find a strengthened sense of community and social responsibility,” Bryant said.

Elkus takes solace that “people do really come together in times of crisis,” she said, calling it “an unprecedented time of kindness and generosity.”

One also cannot overestimate “the importance of the time with family that this quarantine is allowing,” Nathan said. “I personally have loved being able to spend so much time with my dad and sister.”

TOUGH, TESTED AND READY

The MBHS seniors have deep confidence in their generation to help the country solve its problems.

“We’re a group of optimists, intellectuals and over-achievers,” Elkus said. “We push ourselves to improve and help, and I think we see many issues (where) older generations don't.”

“We’re often labeled as inattentive, shallow or out of touch, but... technology has made us the most globally aware generation to date, as well as relentless problem solvers,” Bryant said. “I truly believe that my generation is already adapted to the future, and as we grow into the world, the world will adapt and improve with us.”

Some of the seniors believe their group can benefit from the trials they’ve faced during the pandemic.

“This generation has already been through so much together, and it’s made us tough,” Nathan said. “We've seen the problems with our country which this pandemic has exposed, and we will use this knowledge to improve our nation.”

“I believe our generation has been tested and learned things that no other generation has,” Brewer declared. “Our hard work, determination and desire to serve our neighbor will improve our situation moving forward.”

BRIGHT FUTURES

A Mountain Brook native, Holley just finished his fourth year at MBHS and his second year as principal.

Memories of the Class of 2020 at MBHS will always be linked to COVID-19, he said.

“I think we will look back 10 years or 20 years from now and say, ‘They are the class that graduated during the pandemic,’” he said. “Like it or not, that’s the legacy they’re stuck with.”

But they didn’t just settle for that. “I get a feeling they’re embracing it, that they’re saying, ‘We’re going to make the most out of it,’” he said.

Holley said the seniors all have bright futures ahead of them.

“I’m really looking forward to following them and seeing what they do,” he said.