WAUKEE, Iowa — High school seniors are normally counting down the days until graduation, but this year, they're wishing they could go back and have one last day of school.
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Friday students will not be allowed to return to school for in-person learning for the remainder of the school year.
They'll have to finish out the year remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"If you would have told me then that that was going to be my last day of school, i never would have believed you," Waukee High School senior Will Keck said.
Keck is still processing that in-person learning is canceled for the rest of the school year.
"It's very hard and difficult to think about and wrap my head around still," Keck said.
Will says the pandemic not only impacted his senior year, it impacted where he's going to college.
"It's been very difficult because I got into some schools outside of the state that I was planning on visiting in the month of April. And those are obviously got canceled and I wasn't able to go visit them. So that definitely factored into my decision making as well on where seemed the most practical and where I could still get the experience that I wanted," Keck said.
Des Moines seniors also grappling with the news.
"It's like really heartbreaking because these last couple months were something we were all looking forward to," Des Moines senior Mayela Chaidez Lopez said.
"I think the hardest part is not getting our traditional graduation. walking the stage." Des Moines senior Jenny Rayes said.
"It definitely doesn't feel the most fair, but i know what they're doing is probably best for the long run right now," Des Moines senior Kade Dolphin said.
This virus is causing financial concerns too.
Kade Dolphin normally works as a life guard during the summer.
"I'm not really sure if I'm going to have a job this summer and that makes me a little nervous because I was going to use that to help pay for college," Dolphin said.
Jenny Rayes used to work at a hospital gift shop.
A few weeks ago, she asked to take leave because she didn't feel it was safe.
"All that money was going toward my college so it's kind of hard to not have that now," Rayes said.
Despite the uncertainty, these kids are doing what they can to stay positive.
"I know, there's definitely some a lot of negatives that go along with this pandemic. But hopefully in the future, we can look at more of the positives that came from it," Keck said.