Future Plans
In describing their return to high school in fall 2021, many students — particularly juniors and seniors — expressed ambivalence about their plans for the future. Many explained that after two years of uncertainty and online schooling, their life goals have either changed or they feel ill-prepared for their next step in life. Some expressed disappointment with the “whole concept of school” and question the value of higher education. Students asked that educators and those with power consider the experience of this generation and work to create more accessible and intentional pathways into adulthood, whether that leads to college, a trade, or the military.
What 20 Students Had to Say About Future Plans
“The pandemic should’ve either changed everything about school or nothing at all. The merit of the education system has been compromised. These small changes do nothing but bring uncertainty …. This makes it difficult for students to plan for their careers and education. Especially those transitioning from high school.”
12th grade, boy/man, African American
“I mean the only thing that has changed for me is that before the pandemic I was sure I wanted to go to a 4-year college, but now that all the stuff that has happened with COVID and stuff, I am now thinking I will go to a trade school.”
12th grade, boy/man, LatinX
“This change has honestly fried my brain and I’m not so sure about going to college anymore.”
12th grade, girl/woman, multiracial
“The pandemic was a reality check for most people. Living with death all around you in isolation for months on end as a teen that’s supposed to be beginning to explore a world for first time is not only extremely demoralizing but also deeply traumatizing. It’s hard to put any real focus on something as petty as the busy work we get tasked with. Additionally, the convoluted world of college admissions and the horribly outdated, unfair, and ridiculous system of higher education in this country does nothing to entice me to pursue that direction.”
12th grade, prefer not to say, prefer not to say
“I want to weld and fabricate, I have missed a lot of time in metals and online did nothing for me, I also still feel like I’m a sophomore and at that level even tho (sic) I’m a senior.”
12th grade, boy/man, white
“A lot has changed for me since the start of the COVID pandemic. I always wanted to attend a 4-year university. After COVID, I realized that university is expensive and I don’t want to end up in debt. I decided I’d like to join the military and go to school while in the service. I wish my counselors helped explain to me in more detail about enlisting after high school.”
11th grade, boy/man, LatinX
“I need more information that’s less confusing on what I can do after high school, now that my plans have changed, I’m not sure where to go from here and everything that we are being told about what requirements we need to make to go to college is very overwhelming and confusing because I’m not even sure anymore what career I want to go into after high school.”
11th grade, non-binary, multiracial
“The only thing that changed is the students’ drive to do schoolwork which I have experienced … Now I fight with the thought that no matter how well I am doing in school it is just a blockade for my future and I am constantly let down by not the teachers, but the whole concept of school. Now that may not be the fault (of) the … workers at (my school) but it isn’t corona’s fault neither. People need a … reason to carry on. …The days … feel like just one big-looped track where we all run the same pattern each day. But hey I’m just another big number in a log of others.”
11th grade, boy/man, white
“I think the school in general needs to do a better job at preparing students for what they are gonna do after high school. Whether that be helping students pick out the courses/colleges for their future or finding trade schools ect. As a senior I feel like I have not gotten the preparation I need for after I graduate.”
12th grade, prefer not to say, white
“I lost faith in learning more because of COVID and I really just want to finish high school and get a job.”
10th grade, self-identified, selected “other” for race/ethnicity
“A lot of students lost motivation that they already lacked and have no idea how this can affect their future. we need resources to plan for our futures: how to get to college, or a trade school, or even a simple job. we need counselors to work with us and provide classes so we can understand these things. We’re not going to work because we don’t know how to get there. … we need you to put us before test scores.”
10th grade, girl/woman, white
“Take a look at the curriculum and actually do something. For some reason personal finance classes and related stuff is optional while 4 years of extra English and math classes on graphs and quadratic equations that approach but never meet an asymptote is mandatory. Don’t try to claim this is how things should go and forget about this. You gave out this goddamn survey so goddamn listen instead of just saying I’m wrong. But at this point I’m too tired to care. Don’t try to blame this all on me not doing good enough or not trying hard enough or some mental problem I have. Don’t try to justify things as they are and accept that this is just how it is. And most of all don’t plug your ears and not listen and sit idly by not doing anything.”
11th grade, boy/man, Asian
“So many kids at the start of the pandemic and during it that were graduating and getting into college, I feel like (they) had it easy … things are now more complicated again and more expensive again and still very confusing because we don’t get taught how to apply for college. Is it actually a financially good decision? Every teacher will tell you go to college but … it shouldn’t be just for an experience, it’s already digging that student into a financial hole they probably think they’ll never get out of.”
12th grade, girl/woman, multiracial
“Before the pandemic I was very exited to go to college and have a full on career. While in online school however I struggled very badly and therefore my grades dropped insanely. …Now I don’t know what to do with my life. It scares me, it really does and I have no one to talk to it about so I just suppress it inside.”
12th grade, girl/woman, LatinX
“School used to be so easy for me to do freshman and sophomore year … The middle chunk of our high school career was basically ripped from us and all of a sudden we are about to graduate. I feel as if I had no time to figure out who or what I want to become. So now I’m left with the decisions to make about college and my future and I feel so stuck and uncertain of what I want. I know I’m not a bum but after covid ripped everything away the past two years it feels as if I’m stuck in sophomore year mentally and I am not prepared at all for what’s next to come with life. … I feel stuck because of Covid and it is terrible.”
12th grade, girl/woman, white
“(Covid) made me think about dropping out of high school during the middle of the junior year because it was becoming too hectic and I didn’t want to deal with no more, because the distance learning wasn’t working for me waking up at 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning to stare at a computer for an hour and attempting to go right back to sleep right after the first 10 to 15 minutes of class because you … couldn’t focus, follow along or pay attention to anything, but I eventually got through it and passed junior year and now all I have to do is pass senior year, graduate and get my diploma… and go on with the rest of my life.”
12th grade, boy/man, African American
“The pandemic changed me moreover mentally rather than anything else. I think I’m the same person but I have changed as who I am and my goals in life because the pandemic gave me time to get to know myself in more of a spiritual level than anything else.”
11th grade, girl/woman, LatinX
“I think a lot of people have realized the things that actually matter to them, and that there are a lot of things that Covid- 19 has definitely changed many students’ perspectives and goals including mine and so I think it is important to realize that a lot of students now have different plans for their futures outside of high school.”
11th grade, girl/woman, white
“Pre-Covid, though I still had many issues, I wanted to do well in school and (I was) not too concerned with the future. But after Covid, I lost interests in the things I use to love and felt alone, and by the second semester of my sophomore year I had completely given up and didn’t believe I would be able to keep going. Being at (my school) has made me realize that I can still put in the efforts to have a future and get back on track to graduate. With all the presentations about continuing onto a higher education and all the different career options, I no longer feel so behind.”
11th grade, non-binary, LatinX
“Basically, covid has just ruined my whole life plans. I wanted to be an elementary school teacher for my whole life since kindergarten. I’ve never even thought of doing something else. Now, I won’t be able to go to college or get that job because I don’t want to be vaccinated. Covid has ruined EVERYTHING! I don’t know what to do about my future anymore. I’ve always known but now that the time is here to actually make those decisions something out of my control has ruined all of my plans.”
12th grade, girl/woman, white
Explore the full Students Weigh In series
Education in the United States, as across the globe, changed dramatically when the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools across the country to close in spring 2020 and over 50 million students were asked to learn remotely.
In response to a stark lack of firsthand data about how the pandemic and school closures were affecting students’ lived experiences YouthTruth explores what students have to say about learning and well-being during COVID-19 in our series.
