As Shrish Sharma reflected ahead of his graduation Friday, he felt relieved and excited to see what the future held, but, at the same time, he didn’t want to let go of the memories he had made at school and with friends.
To him, high school was a “time of change.”
“I just started to kind of expand,” the STEM School Chattanooga senior said by phone Thursday. “I went from an introverted kid to more extroverted. It’s super cool because you get to see yourself change in high school, and I definitely saw that for myself.”
Seniors across Hamilton County crossed the stage at graduation last week, concluding a high school education that started with the need to adapt. The class of 2024 began its freshman year during the pandemic, with some taking classes remotely while others experienced school closures and quick shifts to virtual or hybrid learning models.
Though less common, some of those disruptions continued into their sophomore year.