Durham high school senior's art symbolizes loss for the Class of 2020

A student from Jordan High School created a pencil drawing to symbolize the sadness high school seniors feel losing their graduation experience to COVID-19.

Shaun Deardorff has experience creating symbolic images that draw attention to widely shared emotions.

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"I knew I wanted to create some kind of memorial for those who had fallen due to gun violence," said Deardorff after a gun violence scare at his own school.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing restrictions that come with it inspired Deardorff to create a new image with pencil and paper.

Tragically, the pandemic has claimed many lives, but Deardroff said COVID-19 also robbed him and his classmates of the traditions that normally come at the end of their senior year, including graduation ceremonies.

"We came out of school on March 17 thinking we would be back on April 3," said Deardorff. "I didn't really say goodbye to my friends because I thought I'd see them again."

Deardorf said the male student in the drawing represents every high school senior across the country whose banner year seemed to simply fade away.

"You know, I kind of shed a tear or two, because that was going to be the end of my childhood and my high school career," Deardorf said. "I'm not going to be able to go to prom, have Senior Night or Senior Awards Day or these other things."

Deardorff's picture resonated with many friends as well as strangers on social media. He hopes it helps many others across the country in the Class of 2020 express their own feelings and in their own way.

For him, the picture, with a tearful student in graduation garb plus a medical mask covering his nose and mouth, says it all.

"Knowing that a picture is worth 1,000 words, I wanted to be able to show something through art so I can express that," said Deardorff.

Deardorf still has some AP exams to finish, but last December he was accepted at N.C. State University, where he will pursue a degree in Aerospace Engineering.