This week's featured stories

Annual College Bound Edition looks at pandemic perspectives 

  • ANR presents annual College Bound edition
    ANR presents annual College Bound edition
  • Cooper Reeson
    Cooper Reeson
  • Dylan Soule, a member of the High Plains Community Class of 2020, is set to graduate from Chadron State College this spring.
    Dylan Soule, a member of the High Plains Community Class of 2020, is set to graduate from Chadron State College this spring.
  • Lydia Dose at her second high school graduation held in July of 2020.
    Lydia Dose at her second high school graduation held in July of 2020.
  • Hannah Preissler, a three-time state pole vault champion for Giltner, went on to compete for the Big Red over the last four years.
    Hannah Preissler, a three-time state pole vault champion for Giltner, went on to compete for the Big Red over the last four years.
  • Aurora native Trevor Dvorak, left, works with Dr. Haishi Cao and fellow student Madeline Riesberg in a UNK chemistry lab. Dvorak is one of several area students sharing how the COVID pandemic impacted his educational experience.
    Aurora native Trevor Dvorak, left, works with Dr. Haishi Cao and fellow student Madeline Riesberg in a UNK chemistry lab. Dvorak is one of several area students sharing how the COVID pandemic impacted his educational experience.
  • Esperanza "Espie" Lesiak
    Esperanza "Espie" Lesiak

    Exactly four years ago the world was about to enter a period of unprecedented chaos with the onset of a global pandemic. It was a particularly difficult challenge in the education realm as students faced the transition of learning online while still trying to connect with their friends and navigate their futures. The News-Register focused this year’s College Bound edition on local eighth graders and high school seniors at the time, who are now preparing to graduate from high school and college. We found their “Pandemic perspective” refreshing, candid and insightful.

    This year’s crop of high school seniors planning was just preparing to make the leap into high school when the COVID pandemic hit here in March of 2020. The then 8th graders were finishing up their middle school education and some had just come off of spring break when the news came that, due to the spread of the virus, school would be canceled for a week. After that week it was a second week of called off classes and before long the school year ended altogether. Because of such a drastic interruption at a pivotal time in these students’ lives we were curious as to how experiencing the pandemic and the changes that have taken place in the four years since, had changed the outlook, goals and education/career paths of those students. The College Bound section of this week's ANR (Section C) features interviews with five area seniors who describe affect the pandemic has had on them since they were 8th graders.

     https://www.auroranewsregister.com/news/college-bound-seniors-reflect-covid-memories-impact

    Hampton native Lydia Dose is excited about her future after graduating from Concordia University in May, though business administration is not the career path she had in mind four years ago. A lot has changed since then, but then adapting to massive, unprecedented change was a fact of life for Dose and her fellow high school Class of 2020 graduates all across the country. A global pandemic disrupted the final two months of her time at Hampton High, and in fact directly impacted her decision to change her major.

    https://www.auroranewsregister.com/news/pandemic-prompted-change-major-lydia-dose

    Hannah Preissler remembers her senior year spring break from high school quite well. The 2020 Giltner graduate only wished it was under better circumstances. “I can vividly remember getting the message over spring break from school telling us that we were going to get a couple extra days off from school,” she recalled. “At first, my friends and I all thought this was the coolest thing ever. I mean what high schooler wouldn’t want a couple more days away from classes and homework.” Unfortunately for Preissler, her friends, and everyone else from the Class of 2020, things weren’t as “cool” as they seemed.

     

    March of 2020 wasn’t the best time for Dylan Soule. The former Storm standout athlete had just gotten his wisdom teeth removed. His first day back at school also just happened to be his last day of high school.
    “The spring semester of 2020 is a time no one will forget,” Soule shared. “With so much uncertainty, a lot of panic arose and that time was plagued with cancellations and confusion. I remember it like it was yesterday.” The HPC grad is preparing to walk the stage to be handed a diploma for the very first time this May.

    https://www.auroranewsregister.com/news/soule-shares-unique-chadron-state-college-experience

    Pick up the print or e-edition of ANR today to learn the many impacts the pandemic had on local youths and how they both learned from it and rose above it.