#Coronavirus pandemic forces high school seniors to rethink college

After finishing up their senior year online — and with the coronavirus pandemic still threatening to shutter or at least alter campus life — six new high-school grads tell The Post why the are, or aren’t changing their college plans.

I’m not going to college now, so I can work to support my family’

Cristofer Solano, 18, just graduated from the Community Health Academy of the Heights in Washington Heights, where he resides with his family, and had been accepted to college for the fall. But after his father fell ill with the coronavirus, Solano put his plans on hold.

I’m the first person in my family to attend college, which is exciting. I was going to study mechanical engineering at City Tech, but in April my father was hospitalized for COVID-19. He was in a very critical state. When I asked the doctors if he would recover, they didn’t respond.

I had a hard choice to make. But instead of going to college this year, I’m going to support my family.

My father. Edgardo. is recovering, but he’s still in the hospital. He was the one in my family with a steady job. My mom, Penina, makes and sells food and has spent a lot of money to support me and my five siblings. We ended up having little to no money, and my dad will also have medical bills. I’ll have to pay for my education, and it’s too much.

As business continues to reopen in the city, I’m going to look for a job. It doesn’t matter what kind of job it is. I’ve told my dad that I want to work, but I haven’t yet told him that I’ll defer college. He’s probably not going to be happy. My parents are from Mexico and want me to go to college. But I want to help him.

— As told to Zachary Kussin

‘I want a real college experience – not an online one’

Aminata Cisse, 17, is about to graduate from the School of Tourism and Hospitality and is waiting for Brooklyn College to announce if her fall 2020 semester classes will be held in person or online. Either way, the Bronx native is ready to go — but the pandemic made her decide to change her major.

I’m just assuming that I’m going to be back on campus and everything’s going to be OK. I feel like I’m still in a denial state. I was able to handle online learning for the last two months of high school, but I would rather not do that for college. I want that real college experience — interacting with and meeting new people.

Taking a gap year wasn’t even an option. I don’t want to waste any time. Coronavirus is just a circumstance I’m just going to have to deal with. I’ve been a part of PublicColor, a youth development program, for six years and preparing for college that whole time.

I was planning to study law or political science. But when I told my advisor how I want to build a hospital in my parents’ country of Mali, she recommended public health.

The funny thing is, it wasn’t until this pandemic that I really considered it as a major. Now, I feel it’s the best possible major.

— As told to Marisa Dellatto

‘I’m not comfortable coming to New York for a year’

Singapore native Auston Cheang, 20, is opting to delay his freshman year at Fordham, which has said it plans to have students on campus and in classes “to the greatest extent that the public health situation permits.”

I’m already two years behind many people my age because I had to complete Singapore’s mandatory military service. I’ve been dreaming of living and studying in New York City for as long as I can remember. When I visited during my junior year of high school, I was dazzled by the sights, sounds, and smells, and I knew I wanted to spend four years there studying and soaking up the culture. So when I was accepted to Fordham University for the fall semester, to study digital marketing and business management, I was thrilled.

But not now. Even if Fordham does end up having in-person classes this fall, being an international student comes with complications. One safety concern I have is that people might view me differently due to COVID. I heard about racist attacks against Asians in the streets and subways.

For the next year, I will work on my startup, IO Mentoring, which will connect students with mentors, and consult with my own mentors. But I hope to study in NYC one day.

— As told to Doree Lewak

‘I’m taking a gap year and getting a job’

Seventeen-year-old Paige Levy of Queens, just graduated from La Guardia High School and deferred her freshman year at SUNY Binghamton until fall 2021.

I was lucky enough to tour Binghamton at the beginning of the year and instantly fell in love with the place. I was going to live in a dorm and have the quintessential college experience. Then, with COVID-19, I realized that it was going to be very different.

I was accepted into Binghamton’s theater program for acting — a subject that does not lend itself to distance learning. You’ve got to be in the same room as your fellow actors and be able to speak to them directly. Binghamton hasn’t confirmed the fall semester will be done virtually, but I don’t want to take the chance.

So I’m going to take a gap year. It took a while for my parents to be on board, but they realize how important it is for me to have a more typical college education.

I’m living at home and planning to get a job, maybe at Starbucks, but I’m also looking into acting programs like the Lee Strasberg Institute and Stella Adler Studio. It’d be great if I was accepted. I’m not scared of going to class.

— As told to Jane Ridley

‘I’m still planning to be the first person in my family to go to college’

Kallyn Batista, 18 is a first-generation American — and will be the first in her family to attend college. The soon-to-be graduate of KIPP NYC College Prep High School, who lives in Harlem, has decided she will not be daunted as she prepares to study at the University of Wisconsin at Madison on a full scholarship.

My parents are originally from the Dominican Republic. They came to America for a better life. My mother believes education would be the tunnel of out the suffering she experienced, so she has always pushed it for me. At KIPP, I’ve traveled to Virginia, Florida and Canada and even met with people from NASA. It’s been wonderful.

I earned a scholarship through The Posse Foundation, and I decided on the University of Wisconsin, where I will study STEM with the goal of becoming an oceanographer. I was supposed to have a four-day orientation on campus in mid-July to get acclimated, and meet my advisors and other Posse students. But we are now doing all of that online.

It takes away from being on campus, and it stinks, but I will roll with it.

Right now, the school is saying there will be the option of in-person classes in the fall, and I plan to be there.

I am pretty resilient. I have lived in New York my entire life, so I am ready for something new.

— As told to Kirsten Fleming

‘Right now, it’s all up in the air’

Francesca Moreira of New Preston, Conn., graduated from Gunnery High School last month and was looking forward to attending the University of Connecticut this coming semester. Now, the 18-year-old is having doubts about her future.

I’m currently enrolled at UConn, but we haven’t really heard whether we’re expected to be on campus in the Fall.  If all of my classes will be online next year, I will definitely consider deferring for a year or a semester. As much as I’ve tried to embrace online learning, it’s been really hard for me to finish senior year virtually. Prom was cancelled, and the teachers organized a drive-thru graduation and tried to make it special. Still, I was a mess, and so sad that day.

When it came to college, I was looking forward to in-person orientations, living in the dorms and meeting people, which would’ve helped acclimate me to college. I’m supposed to study sports management, and I love watching sports, but I know there probably won’t be games, at least initially. I was also interested in rushing a sorority, and joining a business club. But now, I don’t know what college might look like.

Since March, I’ve been working at a local grocery store, helping with curbside pick-up service, and my best friend works there too. She’s heard rumors about schools collectively quarantine-ing, having students take classes from their dorm room, and not letting anyone on or off campus.

I might keep working and take a few online classes, get some credits out of the way. Right now, it’s all up in the air.

— As told to Suzy Weiss