‘Tis the season of stress, hard work, and eventually relief for AHS seniors who are in their final stretch before falling into a complete pit of senioritis. This year, the “sleigh bells” for graduating seniors don’t ring in the commons. The bell instead merely sits collecting cobwebs.

Most college touring and visits by seniors this year are strictly virtual. Not being able to physically see the campus or meet admissions, staff, and other students makes it much harder for this year’s seniors to get a better sense of where they may be attending school next year. AHS senior Pearl Soderberg talks about this unique experience.

“The hardest thing about applying to college has been the virtual college meetings and not being able to see schools in person, it makes it much harder to decide where I truly want to go and apply as I’m not getting an authentic experience of meeting people and seeing the campus,” Soderberg said.

Some students have actually found the application process this year to be much better than expected. AHS senior, Macy Hopkinson, is pleasantly surprised by the college application process as a result of covid-19 and a virtual process.

“I would actually argue that remote learning is better for college applications because you don’t have the pressure of students asking me where I’m applying and talking about where they want to go, their GPA, SAT, etc. so I like that part of it so I can just apply in peace,” Hopkinson said.

Among other steps in the college application process, the most iconic aspect of applying to college at AHS has been ringing the bell in the commons. In previous years, ringing the bell has been a congratulations for every senior and their hard work finally paying off as they applied to college.

“It makes me so sad that I can’t continue that tradition [of ringing the bell] as it has always been such a special moment for seniors and it’s something I’ve looked forward to doing since a freshman,” Soderberg said

Despite the fact that no bells will be ringing this holiday season, seniors will enjoy the letters of acceptance they’ll receive this coming year.