Class of 2025: Born into virtual world, graduating seniors ready to zoom IRL

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They were born during the iPhone revolution, came of age in a pandemic and now graduate into a world transformed by artificial intelligence. For the Class of 2025, change has never been the exception — it has been the backdrop. As they prepare to leave high school behind, these students reflect a generation shaped by disruption, connection, reinvention and resilience.

The Class of 2025 didn’t just grow up during change — they grew up on screens, set on fast-forward. Born in the late 2006 to mid-2007 window, their lives have coincided with the rise of smartphones, streaming media, social movements and digital identity. Their junior high years were marked by lockdowns and learning loss. Now, they bring not just ambition, but insight into a world they have been watching, questioning and navigating in real time.

Seniors at high schools in the U.S. 280 corridor have lived through lockdowns, digital classrooms and a redefined sense of normal on their way to graduation.

“This graduating class has lived through a lot of change,” said Birmingham-area clinical psychologist Josh Klapow. “They’ve shown an incredible amount of flexibility and adaptation — tested since birth.”

DIGITAL LIFE AND DISCONNECTION

For many students, growing up in a fully connected world has shaped how they communicate, interact, and set boundaries — online and in real life.

“Older generations think Gen Z has an attitude — we’re just setting boundaries,” said Spain Park senior Javairia Jehangir. “Face-to-face conversations are so much better than digital. You can’t really note people’s tones or how they feel.”

A 2024 UNC study found about 1 in 5 college students still feel isolated — a pattern researchers say often starts in high school when social media replaces real connection.

Spain Park senior Erissa Lusian said older generations often underestimate today’s teens.

“I think this generation is a lot more than what the older generation may believe,” Lusian said. “They don’t always see how much kindness or creativity exists in us — even if we use different language to express it.”

PANDEMIC AND ACADEMIC IMPACT

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted classroom routines, erased key academic milestones and forced students into real isolation during a critical point in their development. For many in the Class of 2025, those early high school or late middle school years were shaped as much by missed learning as by the experience of returning to a world that wasn’t quite the same.

A 2024 report found students have regained about a third of pandemic-era losses in math and a quarter in reading — though progress has been slowest for older students nearing graduation.

Chelsea senior Ava Wilson said she learned not to take things for granted.

“Being home for so long, I was grateful I had a good family I was stuck in the house with,” Wilson said. “And I was grateful I had a school system that was trying to help my education.”

Still, she admits that some academic gaps remain.

“There is stuff I’m noticing — like seventh-grade math — I didn’t learn enough of that,” Wilson said.

Chelsea senior Madi Claire Sims said that while she missed out on cheer competitions during middle school, she felt fortunate that her high school years were mostly

uninterrupted.

“It wasn’t as hard on us as it was for people older than us,” she said. “In middle school, I missed out on competitions, but in high school, I didn’t have to miss out on anything. I got to cheer Friday nights, go to football games — all the big moments.”

Spain Park senior Miria Babi said she remembers the anxiety of stepping into high school after a fully virtual eighth-grade year.

“I didn’t know what to expect. I was so anxious but excited at the same time,” Babi said.

As high school unfolded, she noticed something deeper.

“With online school and Zoom, it was easier to hide how you were really doing,” she said. “It made me feel like school was something I was doing at home, not part of my life. It took a while to reconnect.”

Chelsea senior Jackson Kalnoske believes the Class of 2025 represents a new kind of normal.

“We were the first class to really experience how COVID affected high school — without it still being a prominent thing in life,” he said.

FACING THE AI FUTURE

As the Class of 2025 graduates, they step into a future shaped by the rise of artificial intelligence.

Spain Park senior Tracy Li said AI is already influencing how she thinks about career choices.

“If it was a job AI could replace, I wouldn’t be interested in it anyway,” Li said. “I think AI can certainly do things, but music, for example — you can usually tell when a song has been done by AI, and it sounds funny. If you’re a fan of an artist, you feel what they feel, and I don’t think AI can take that away.”

Chelsea senior Thomas Miller said AI still lacks the spark of originality. “AI can generate art, but it pulls from other sources and lacks real creativity,” he said. “That’s concerning.”

Sims said her generation may actually be more ready for what’s coming than people expect.

“We really know how to work it all,” she said. “Especially going through school with ChatGPT — we know how it works and are very comfortable with it. I think it’ll be good for us.”

By 2030, 30% of U.S. working hours could be automated — up from 21% before generative AI, according to McKinsey researcher Michael Chui.

While AI is a growing tool in education, University of Alabama at

Birmingham Admissions Director Andrew Colson said it doesn’t replace a human voice.

“AI should be an editor, not the author,” said Colson. “We need to hear the student’s voice.”

RESILIENCE AND IDENTITY

As high school ends and a new chapter begins, many students are reflecting on who they’ve become — and who they hope to be.

“We’ve followed a set pattern for so long. Now that I’m moving out, I want to see change in myself — and I think I’ll understand me better,” said Jehangir.

Babi said her class has faced quiet pressures that aren’t always visible.

“I think we’ve put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect — to be academically great, socially active, do clubs, sports and look a certain way online,” she said. “It’s a lot, honestly. I think some people don’t realize how hard we try.”

Spain Park senior Micah Breland said one word defines the Class of 2025: passionate.

“We’re a class that’s been through a lot — and we still show up, still go hard for what we care about,” Breland said.

LOOKING AHEAD

Spain Park senior Sofia Contreras said the excitement of graduation comes with anxiety too.

“It’s kind of scary moving out and living by yourself,” Contreras said. “But I think we’ve learned to adapt — we kind of had no

choice.”

Sims said she’ll never forget cheering on Friday nights during her school’s winning football season.

“That was monumental,” she said. “Seeing the community come together like that — it was just special.”

When asked to define her class in one phrase, she didn’t hesitate: “A big family. We come together when we need each other.”

Klapow, the clinical psychologist, said students graduating this year can take comfort in knowing they’ve shared a journey unlike any other.

“The challenges and experiences that many of these kids have gone through will be something they look back on in years to come — and it will be unique to their generation,” he said. “They can say, ‘We lived through a global pandemic,’ or, ‘We used smartphones for everything.’ Everyone comes from different backgrounds, but what connects this class is they all faced the same defining moments at the same time.”

Starnes Media Creator Collective student journalists Daniela Maria Sollano and Leyton McCarn of Spain Park High School and Luke Miller of Chelsea High School contributed to this report.