Juliet Bernard is a Westerville Central High School graduate with the whole world ahead of her.
As a National Merit Scholarship recipient and a 9-year member of her local 4-H chapter, Bernard’s hard work has paid off as she continues her education at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan this fall. However, her happy future did not come without a few unexpected hiccups.
Bernard is part of the senior class whose spring semester was completely upended by COVID-19. They were robbed of all perks and celebrations that come with senior year: prom, senior night and gradu- ation. Bernard, a star student and track athlete, struggled with the adjustments.
“It was a little disappointing to not be able to do those things,” she says. “But at the same time, it’s understandable because you want to try to keep those around you and your loved ones safe, so you don’t want to have that risk of exposing anyone.”
Online classes were another odd turn to her senior year. Bernard had finished most of her high school credits by spring semes- ter so was taking a total of five AP classes for college credit at home. As someone with intuitive ADHD, losing that school routine was a struggle.
“Without having that classroom schedule where I had to be in school and had to do all that, it was a little bit more difficult to create that structure at the home atmosphere,” she says. “But overall, I think it was good with the teachers because they would always check in with us.”
Despite these challenges, Bernard persevered, earning the National Merit Scholarship, All-Ohio
honors in track and a spot on Hillsdale’s track team. Bernard is majoring in pre-med with the goal of first becoming a forensic pathologist and eventually a prenatal clinical geneticist. The 17-year-old is looking forward to more than just her studies. She’s excited to continue her track career and join a sorority.
“I’m just looking forward to becoming a collegiate track athlete and to really see how I can contribute to the team and become the best athlete I can be,” Bernard says. “I also look forward to joining a sorority. They’re involved in a lot of philanthropy projects, so I’m also really interested in getting involved with the Hillsdale community and seeing how I can contribute while also making a lot of friends in the process.”
There is something bittersweet about leaving high school and moving out of state for the first time, but she is taking it all in stride.
“The best way I can phrase it is I feel like a kid the night before a field trip where you’re nervous but you’re also re- ally excited,” Bernard says. “I’m just going to miss my friends and all the memories we were able to make, but at the same time, I know that I’m going to be able to make new memories with my friends in college.”
With Bernard having tackled her senior year despite some of the biggest academic and social hurdles she’s faced, it’s clear she can get through anything in the future.
Grace Lenehan Vaughn is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
