The impact of the shutdown varies from generation to generation. There are high schoolers here, for example, who won’t have a senior prom, or walk at graduation. One such person is my 18-year-old nephew Zach Miller, who is supposed to graduate from Arapahoe High School in Centennial, a metropolitan suburb south of Denver. His classes have been canceled. He turns in one assignment a week per class using Google Classrooms and once in a lifetime events are either terminated or have yet to be determined. ‘All proms were canceled last week,’ he tells me. ‘At first it was like “who really cares?” It didn’t really matter. Now I’m bummed we didn’t get to have that. I know girls who already bought their dresses.’
College campus tours have also been canceled, though the universities are still in touch with graduating seniors through Zoom calls and virtual tours. Choosing a four-year university might mean picking a school from photographs or taking a full year off before being able to visit colleges.