Photography by Ebti Nabag
From 11 at night until the early hours of the morning, sometimes as the sun rose, Fola Okerufai would open her laptop to complete school assignments while her mother, brother and younger sister slept. Her friend often joined her on Facetime where they would listen to their favourite artists, Brent Faiyaz and Frank Ocean, or share TikTok videos.
Those hours at night in what has been a fragmented high school career were ones she could steal for herself. Through waves of COVID-19, when schools were closed to in-person learning, she would spend her days guiding her sister with schoolwork, especially multiplication, or making lunch or prepping dinner. She did not resent it: her mother, a personal support worker, was needed on the front lines.
Ms. Okerufai is among 180 graduates at Westview Centennial Secondary School, in Toronto’s Jane and Finch neighbourhood, whose only normal year of high school was Grade 9, four years ago. Even then, it can be intimidating and scary settling into the rhythms of a new school.
Ms. Okerufai says high school was not even a little bit like the movies and online learning was difficult and, at times, lonely. As graduation day approached, she thought of her mom, who worked in some of the most difficult of circumstances over the past two years, and how she moved from Nigeria when Ms. Okerufai was young so her children would have a better education. She also thought about her next steps – studying to be a nurse – and how she would help low-income communities like hers that have been hardest hit throughout the pandemic. Residents in this highly-racialized neighbourhood in the city’s northwest had the highest concentration of COVID-19 cases in the early months of the pandemic, and Westview consistently experienced COVID-19 outbreaks and high absences rates.
“It was so easy to give up,” she says. “What always brings me back is I know the sacrifices that my mom made … I can’t fail.”
Fola Okerufai in the Westview Secondary School library on June 15. As graduation day approached, Ms. Okerufai thought about her next steps – studying to be a nurse.Ebti Nabag/Ebti Nabag
Photography by Ebti Nabag
In the days leading up to their ceremony, Ms. Okerufai and about a dozen of her peers sat around a classroom table to describe what they called their high school rollercoaster ride: the dramatic changes that marked a pivotal chapter of their lives. Students missed out on dances, schools plays and chess clubs that have defined the high-school experience for generations.
Many Westview graduates described feeling “robbed” of a high school experience, but also joked about attending an in-person prom and beamed about their successes. Others supervised younger siblings during pandemic lockdowns and online schooling because their parents were essential workers. Some almost gave up on being in the classroom when sports, their main tether to school, were cancelled.
Deneka Mohan’s parents own the Guyanese restaurant across the street from Westview, where she worked during her lunch hour. It was difficult, she says, when they were forced to close the restaurant during lockdowns, or when business suffered because fewer students were in the school building. “It was hard. I know my parents would never say it to me, but obviously I was old enough to know. It wasn’t very easy. The fact of making barely anything and then having to still buy this and buy that,” she says.
Ms. Mohan has piercing brown eyes that she highlights with eyeliner. Each morning before school, she’d sit at her dresser and spend 15 minutes applying her makeup. She’d match her eye shadow or lipstick to her outfit, feeling more put together and giving her the confidence boost for the school day.
That routine came to feel irrelevant in pandemic lockdowns or during stretches of online learning.
Deneka Mohan is an Ontario scholar and was awarded a scholarship to study health sciences.
Isaac Merchant's schoolwork suffered during the pandemic, but when basketball came back, and so did Mr. Merchant’s drive. He ended up taking five years to graduate.
Still, she kept up her routine. She’d apply makeup and sit in her living room with the windows open, ready to attend class. She pushed herself academically, knowing that she wanted a career in health care and her marks mattered.
“I feel proud,” she says of graduation, where she was awarded a scholarship to study in health sciences. Her words are simple, but they carry a tinge of relief.
Meanwhile, Isaac Merchant had little interest in attending school when basketball was put on hold. He’s 6 foot 1, a point guard and can happily talk your ear off about basketball.
“I’m not going to lie: it was a depression state. You couldn’t pick up a basketball, you couldn’t go outside. What is there to do?” He tried using a gym, where his friends would leave a back door open just in case they were caught. It was short-lived.
Mr. Merchant has needed five years to graduate high school – his schoolwork suffered during the pandemic.
“It was the same routine everyday: You wake up every day, you eat, you sleep,” he says. “I didn’t even want to be here. I was only here because I have to be here … Every time I came to school, it was like basketball was the motivation. I’m looking forward to school cause of basketball. I’m doing my work cause of basketball.”
The thought of re-entering the school building as COVID-19 continued to spread in the community took its toll on Kavenie Balbad. She gradually returned thanks to the work of compassionate teachers.
Basketball came back, and so did Mr. Merchant’s drive. He describes graduation as an “achievement.” He responds with a smirk when asked about what he’ll do after graduation: “I have things with basketball going on. I don’t want to say too much.”
To Kavenie Balbad, graduation means to “have peace of mind.” School, she says, was her “safe space” from what she describes as a troubled home life, where a parent suffered from mental illness.
But the thought of re-entering the school building as COVID-19 continued to spread in the community last year also took its toll. She developed anxiety and felt everyone was staring at her. She stood paralyzed in front of the building on the first day.
Ms. Balbad gradually returned a month later, but it would take the work of compassionate teachers to get her there. One educator had her come in earlier than the rest of the class, and taught her a technique to calm her nerves by pressing her palm and breathing. That teacher also allowed her to Facetime a friend during class so she would feel comfortable.
“COVID made everything harder,” says the soft-spoken teen.
Though her lips curl into a smile, and her voice rises in excitement, when she speaks of her prom. Accompanied by a friend, Ms. Balbad wore a sky-blue gown with white lace embroidery and a princess neckline – her dark hair, usually in a top bun, cascading down in waves. She’s anxious to show pictures from that day.
Students Ryan Le, Kelly Le and Hailey Rivers sit in the school's cafeteria.
Monday Gala, the principal at Westview, was determined that this year’s graduating class be physically present for milestone events. In fact, school staff began planning an in-person graduation ceremony in advance, hoping the province would give them the green light.
“The kids that are today graduating [are] actually a testament to the resilience that exists in our community,” he says.
During Thursday’s graduation ceremony Ms. Okerufai’s mother rose from her seat and held up her cellphone to capture images of her daughter, draped in a black cap and gown, receiving her diploma. Around her, family and friends filled the aisles to snap pictures and take videos of their graduates.
Omowumi Okerufai beamed as her daughter paused on stage to smile at her. The teen was awarded a scholarship and a bursary, and was an Ontario scholar, which means she had an average above 80 per cent in her last year of high school.
“Fola is a good person and a good daughter, always helping me,” she said after the ceremony. “I’m very proud of her that she did it.”
“All that hard work paid off. I’m so happy,” the younger Ms. Okerufai added. She was still smiling.
Ms. Okerufai receives her diploma.
Students at Westview Secondary School commencement ceremony on June 30.
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Caroline Alphonso