Sofia Perez Valle is a senior at Olympian High School in Chula Vista heading to UCLA this fall to major in philosophy. But like other seniors across the country, she is missing out on all the perks and memories that being a senior brings to students as they cross the threshold into higher education and adulthood. Even though her semester started late and she’s taking three Advanced Placement classes, Valle is optimistic.
“We’re really looking forward to summer,” said Valle. “I know that it is not an official thing, but I really do hope that classes are open at the college this fall. I know that I am not going to be going to prom, graduation night or any of those events. But being able to open up by the fall and being able to hang out with my friends during the summer would be the greatest thing that could ever happen right now.
Valle said that after starting college, she does not know if her friends will be able to see each other or what will become of them in the future.
“But this is not the end. Just because we don’t have a senior year doesn’t mean that our visions of going to college are not going to happen. It’s going to happen,” she said. “We might not have had this, our senior year, but we will have better things in the future. Look forward to the things that you will experience in the future.”
Valle said transitioning to online classes only right now is difficult, with half hour classes twice a week for each class and getting assignments on Mondays.
“So I have three days where I go to classes and two days where I only work on my assignments,” said Valle, “It’s been kind of hard and strange because basically we are so packed, we are on our own, but not given more time to complete our assignments. I do have a sister in school, so taking classes at the same time is an overload, it takes a long time to do this. It is just hard. I am taking three AP classes and AP exams are coming in a few weeks. We are kind of on our own because our teachers are not really able to teach. I don’t know what is going to happen if we are not able to go back to school. This looks like it is not going to happen, and this schoolwork is hard.”
Valle said it is also a struggle to plan for college with everything up in the air right now. She is not sure whether she’ll be able get a place on campus or whether she’ll start her first year of college online at home. But Valle has found help with Mana de San Diego Hermanitas Youth Leadership Mentor Prograitam. This program targets and challenges middle and high school Latina students to go beyond a high school diploma and graduate to a higher education institution and enter the workforce as Latina leaders. The program provides a curriculum of educational seminars, community service and writing and reading assignments.
“They help with providing necessary information to students that other institutions do not have because they are first generation and face a disadvantage that other students don’t,” said Valle. “This year I was part of the student advisory council and our goal that we are working on now is to create a bigger connection in San Diego.”
Valle said her participation with Hermanitas has helped her during this transition.
“Being disconnected from my friends has been really hard,” she said. “It something completely different and challenging. We have sessions online where we see each other and give quick updates on what’s going on in our own lives and that’s really helped because sometimes it’s hard to keep in contact with people because of daily life and work. And if you overthink it, and don’t do it.”
