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 Hoover and Spain Park High Schools have lived through lockdowns, digital classrooms and a redefined sense of normal on their way to graduation.
DIGITAL LIFE AND DISCONNECTION
Maddie Bledsoe is a senior in Hoover High School's Class of 2025.
HHS senior Madison Bedsole said the idea that Gen Z relies too much on phones and social media is a misrepresentation.
“When we’re online, we’re exposed to other people, and sometimes we compare ourselves to those people from social media,” Bedsole said. “I think sometimes that creates harmful internalizations that can make people wonder if they’re doing something wrong or right.”
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill published a study in 2024 noting that resilience and social support helped protect students from the negative consequences that social media can have. Approximately 1 in 5 college students currently feel isolated on campus, the study noted.
Though the UNC study focused on college students, its findings reflect behavioral patterns that began much earlier — during high school years spent in virtual classrooms and social isolation. For the Class of 2025, those patterns may carry forward into college and beyond.
“I feel like everyone is socially dependent on the internet to just make connections,” said Stella Stewart, a senior
Stella Stewart is a senior in Hoover High School's Class of 2025.
at Hoover High. “Like no one has those real-life social skills anymore — people are more bold over the internet and act completely different. I just feel more disconnected even though it’s supposed to bring us together.”
Economist Jane Fruehwirth found that social media often displaced healthier habits like sleep and exercise — especially among students who already felt disconnected.
Luci Inman, a Hoover resident and senior at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, shared a similar concern. “I have a strong hindrance
Luci Inman, of Hoover, is a senior at the Alabama School of Fine Arts who will graduate in May 2025.
toward FaceTime,” she said. “I have to mentally prepare before I talk to people — even though I’m an extrovert. I think my generation has lost touch with genuine connection.”
PANDEMIC AND ACADEMIC IMPACT
While disruptions like COVID-19 did prove to be difficult for many students, this generation has been able to normalize therapy, stress and inclusion.
“For me personally, I had a really hard time during COVID, like not being able to see people,” said Nia Brown, a senior at Hoover High. “I’m just a very social person. Humans in general need other humans — we weren’t created not to be together. Getting to come back, I didn’t take for granted the relationships I’m making. I try to take care of those to make sure I have friends for life.”
“This graduating class has already seen so much and lived through a lot of change,” said Dr. Josh Klapow, a Birmingham-based clinical psychologist. “They’ve shown an incredible amount of flexibility and adaptation — tested since
Nia Brown is a senior in Hoover High School's Class of 2025.
birth.”
“COVID made me more anxious talking to people,” said Madison Bedsole. “We didn’t have access to others for so long; it affected me.”
“COVID changed us. Social media and technology became the only way to communicate, and people started relying on that,” said Stella Stewart.
For many students, the disruption wasn’t just social; it had a lasting impact on academics. The Class of 2025 lost key learning years in middle school, and for some, the return to in-person school was a difficult academic adjustment. Students have recovered about a third of pandemic-era learning loss in math and a quarter in reading. Recovery has been slowest for older students — those now entering college — who were in middle school during COVID.
“I feel like when we came back, it was hard for a lot of us to catch up, especially in math and science,” Stewart said. “Like we were expected to just go back to normal — but we missed so much.”
FACING THE AI FUTURE
The Class of 2025 faces AI-driven uncertainty.
Edwin Aroke is a senior in Hoover High School's Class of 2025.
“I use AI just as a resource, but there are some students that use it as a TA,” said Edwin Aroke, a Hoover High senior. “They aren’t actually learning the lesson at hand.”
By 2030, activities that account for 30% of U.S. working hours could be automated — up from 21% before generative AI, according to McKinsey researcher Michael Chui.
“I think it’s taking away job opportunities for sure,” said Stewart. “In my research field at least, a lot of jobs are being taken away because AI is doing most of it. I think a lot of people are going to have trouble; they’re not going to be able to do that anymore. And I also feel like artists… AI can make digital art in like two seconds. It just kind of ruins all the intensity. People are losing jobs because of that.”
“Everyone uses ChatGPT — I do,” said Spain Park senior Javairia Jehangir. “But it takes away effort, and that
Javairia Jehangir is a senior in Spain Park High School's Class of 2025.
shapes how hard we try.”
While AI is a growing tool that helps in the education sector, University of Alabama at Birmingham Director of Undergraduate Admissions Andrew Colson said it does not replace a human voice.
“While AI tools are great to help augment your writing and experiences, a student should consider an AI an editor, not an author tool,” Colson said. “Whenever schools require essays or personal statements, we are looking to get to know the students. Making sure their voice comes through the essays is very important to the process of review.”
RESILIENCE AND IDENTITY
“I’d describe the Class of 2025 as mentally strong,” said Kacey Green. “We came out of a pandemic, and at Hoover, we had a
Kacey Green is a senior in Hoover High School's Class of 2025
couple of suicides. That’s made us stronger; we try to help others through those emotions and dark times.”
“Older generations think Gen Z has an attitude. We’re just setting boundaries,” said Jehangir.
Klapow, the clinical psychologist, said the Class of 2025 is entering adulthood more aware — and more equipped — than many generations before them.
“They can say, ‘We lived through a global pandemic,’ or, ‘We used to use smartphones for everything,’” Klapow said. “This creates connection. They may all come from different backgrounds, but they share that.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Soon they’ll go out into the world, and Jehangir raises an interesting point: Even for a generation accustomed to big change, what lies ahead is opportunity for growth.
“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,” Jehangir said.
Klapow said students graduating this year can take comfort in the fact that everyone who is graduating alongside them experienced changes and advancements in the world at the same time.
“The challenges this class has faced will be something they look back on, and it will be unique to their generation,” Klapow said. “What connects them is that they experienced the same defining moments at the same time.”
Starnes Media Creator Collective student journalists Willow Smith and Cameron Johnson of Hoover High School, Daniela Maria Sollano and Leyton McCarn of Spain Park High School and Kaiden Boykin of Alabama School of Fine Arts contributed to this report.
