The difference in cohesion and camaraderie between Grade 9 and 12 is vast for Spectrum Community School 2025 grad Niyati Agarwal.
This year’s valedictorian, Agarwal remembers a slow emergence from COVID after returning to school with masks, hiding what peers might be feeling and people reticent to get too close.
She herself had slipped from extrovert to introvert.
The first bit of COVID was challenging but interesting, family outings and adventures in new approaches to life. But there was a moment the surreal hit her, and it flipped to a feeling of isolation.
“It was someone’s birthday and we were driving by,” the now 18-year-old recalled. That was the moment she saw a jarring difference from the usual birthday celebration, alongside empty parks and downtown Victoria. Everyone was worried and anxious.
It had a lasting impact on middle schoolers heading into high school.
“It feels like yesterday, yet we were so young,” Agarwal said.
Grade 9 both flew and trickled past, then the masks were off, and so were the students. For Agarwal, that meant joining just about everything over the next couple years – leadership, musical theatre, badminton, robotics, band – you name it, she tried it.
“It’s so much fun to get to know people,” she said. “Talking to strangers is a good skill to have.”
It’s one she’s familiar with as her family’s heavily involved in the Victoria Hindu Temple with functions, events and community. Those experiences at home, school and other environments are as diverse as the rest of the class of 2025 at Spectrum, she said.
Yet they’ve become a cohesive unit.
“The way we came together in the Grade 12 year was really cool to see,” she said. “Our class has learned a lot about empathy, because we’re all so different.”
It may be the biggest thing the class comes away with, facing both the world and supporting each other as they grow accustomed to adulthood.
It’s also something she addressed in her valedictory speech – which she carefully crafted to begin with levity before getting into the nitty gritty: “We are not our successes or failures. We are works in progress.”
“It’s OK to be where you’re at in your stage of life,” said Agarwal, who plans to live at home and study computer science at UVic next fall. “You don’t have to have it all figured out … to expect we know everything is wild.”
While concerns for that future run the gamut from AI to politics and climate change, she expects they’ll passionately tackle those issues – including social media, where Agarwal sees her peers as having a solid understanding of the dangers and pitfalls of the online world.
“(The future) feels very scary and there are so many issues … but it’s very hopeful,” Agarwal said. “It’s really hard not to be hopeful.”
