They were born during the iPhone revolution, came of age in a pandemic and now graduate into a world transformed by artificial intelligence. For the Class of 2025, change has never been the exception — it has been the backdrop. As they prepare to leave high school behind, these students reflect a generation shaped by disruption, connection, reinvention and resilience.
The Class of 2025 didn’t just grow up during change — they grew up on screen, and in fast-forward. Born in the late 2006 to mid-2007 window, their lives have coincided with the rise of smartphones, streaming media, social movements and digital identity. Their junior high years were marked by lockdowns and learning loss. Now, as
Avi Goldberg, of Mountain Brook, is a senior in Alabama School of Fine Arts' Class of 2025.
they prepare to step into adulthood, they bring with them not just ambition, but insight into a world they have been watching, questioning and navigating in real time.
For seniors at Mountain Brook High School, they have all lived through lockdowns, digital classrooms and a re-defined sense of “normal.” And for Avi Goldberg — a Mountain Brook resident and senior at Alabama School of Fine Arts — the Class of 2025’s relationship with technology stands apart.
“We were raised by screens and search engines,” Goldberg
Addison Hardee is a senior in Mountain Brook High School's Class of 2025.
said. “We didn’t learn how to navigate the internet — we learned in it.”
Addison Hardee, a Mountain Brook High School senior, said that access to information has been a double-edged sword.
“Knowledge is so much more available — you can learn anything at your fingertips,” Hardee said. “But not everything on the internet is true. I think misinformation and disinformation are some of the biggest problems in our world right now.”
DIGITAL GENERATION
Jude Smith said social media has been a huge part of his generation.
“Our generation has been able to adapt to it more than older generations,” Smith said. “I think it is almost a bit of an advantage, honestly, because our generation is learning to
Jude Smith is a senior in Mountain Brook High School's Class of 2025.
control how we use it now. I think growing up with technology and social media has helped to teach us how to do it the right way so that when we get older we won’t struggle with spending too much time using it.”
JR Sanders said while the internet has increased connectivity, it also exposed young people to more than they were ready for.
“With the internet, you have more access to things kids shouldn’t have at a younger age,” Sanders said. “It has also made our generation more social because you are introduced a lot earlier on to people you would have never known without social media.”
Ellie Frazier said technology is a tool — sometimes for creativity, sometimes for comparison.
“Older generations don’t really understand that technology is used for entertainment, but can also be used for learning,” she said. “I’ve been learning how to cook on Instagram and I’ve made lots of meals for my family,” said Frazier, who added that she has plans to be a cheerleader in college and has used social media to learn stunts. But with that, she said, “it was really difficult growing up trying not to compare myself to everyone I see on Instagram.”
JR Sanders is a senior in Mountain Brook High School's Class of 2025.
A 2024 study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill noted that while resilience and social support helped protect students from the negative consequences of social media, about 1 in 5 college students still feel isolated on campus — and isolation increased when social media replaced more active forms of connection.
PANDEMIC DISRUPTION
Social media may have created emotional isolation for some, but the pandemic forced it for all.
Mary Kate Nesmith said she considers the timing of her pandemic experience something of a blessing.
Ellie Frazier is a senior in Mountain Brook High School's Class of 2025.
Frazier agreed.
“Coming back to school from the pandemic, I felt a lot more confident with who I was because the pandemic forced me to learn who I was,” she said.
Mary Kate Nesmith is a senior in Mountain Brook High School's Class of 2025.
Addison Hardee said the abrupt switch to remote learning created both disconnection and clarity.
“I was in seventh grade in March 2020. At first it was like, ‘Yay, early summer break,’ but then it stretched out,” Goldberg said. “We all had to learn how to connect without being in the same room. I think some of us got closer because of that. Some of my best friendships started on FaceTime or during those bike rides when the world was shut down.”
According to a 2024 report by the Center on Reinventing Public Education, students have shown some academic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. But the pace is slower for older students — and the emotional impacts are still unfolding.
Nesmith said those effects were most obvious during her sophomore year.
“We were catching up on all of the material we had not covered during COVID and then focusing on all of the things we needed to learn for sophomore year as well,” she said.
AI AND THE FUTURE
Now, these students face an equally complex future — one shaped by the rise of artificial intelligence.
Sophia Self is a senior in Mountain Brook High School's Class of 2025.
“With AI and everything else, it’s like even the careers we thought we wanted might not exist or they might be totally different,” senior Sophia Self said. “We’re kind of learning how to plan for stuff that isn’t even here yet."
But Frazier isn’t worried.
“I don’t think AI is ready to take over jobs because machines cannot replace human interaction,” Frazier said.
Sanders agreed that while change is coming, his class will likely be prepared.
“Many manufacturing jobs can now be replaced by AI,” he said. “That’s going to be a big cultural change a lot of older generations aren’t going to have fun with. I think our generation will go into more majors where they will be building the computers and AI and innovating for the future.”
Nesmith said she’s excited to see how her generation uses technology for good.
“I think AI can help with jobs and speed up processes,” she said. “It will take tasks off people’s hands and allow us to develop things even faster.”
Goldberg added that how we choose to use AI — and what we ask it to do — matters.
“A quote that I like comes to mind, I forget who it’s from: ‘I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so I can make art. I don’t want AI to make art so I can do my laundry and dishes.’”
LOOKING AHEAD
Dr. Josh Klapow, a Birmingham-area clinical psychologist and behavioral scientist, said the Class of 2025 is
Josh Klapow, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, behavioral scientist and lifestyle coach based in Birmingham.
entering adulthood more aware — and more equipped — than many generations before them.
“They can say, ‘We lived through a global pandemic,’ or, ‘We used to use smartphones for everything,’” Klapow said. “This creates connection. They may all come from different backgrounds, but they share that.”
Sanders said he’s excited for college — and confident in what the Class of 2025 can become.
“This is the largest graduating class we’ve ever had, and it’s looking like a lot of us are going into STEM-based majors,” he said. “We’re innovative.”
Frazier said she will never forget her first day of senior year.
“It kind of all hit me as soon as I walked through those doors,” she said. “That this is really happening.”
Now, as their time together draws to a close, she described the Class of 2025 as family.
“They’ve been with me all of the years — elementary, junior high, high school,” she said. “Now we’re all going to walk across the stage together.”
Creator Collective students Kinley Freeman, Evie Lee and Harper Wilbanks of Mountain Brook High School and Kaiden Boykin of Alabama School of Fine Arts contributed to this report.
