JOHN YANG: Three years ago, the members of the class of 2023 were high school freshmen, adjusting to their new normal, when suddenly nothing was normal.

For the recent graduates every year their high school careers was touched by the pandemic.

In spite of the challenges though, they never lost their perseverance and creativity.

Tonight, we hear from the graduating seniors at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California for their take on the future.

BECCA ROSENBERG: My name is Becca Rosenberg.

And I'm a high school senior.

I'm 17 years old.

WOMAN: My favorite show is probably "Seinfeld."

WOMAN: "Friends."

WOMAN: "Euphoria."

MAN: Right now "Ted Lasso."

WOMAN: Honestly, probably "Stranger Things."

MAN: I like all kinds of music.

I get them.

MAN: Japanese jazz, something about it's very relaxing.

My news, try not to get a lot of it.

WOMAN: I get my news from social media.

WOMAN: Sometimes Instagram, maybe TikTok, and like sometimes Google.

MAN: PBS, of course.

WOMAN: I am very proud of my family.

MAN: Something that I like about myself is like, is to be proud of being Mexican.

WOMAN: I'm a really good listener.

MAN: I'm a little nervous at first may be quiet and introverted.

But once I get -- you get to know me more then I do want more.

WOMAN: When the pandemic started, I was 14.

I was a freshman.

WOMAN: I kind of had to like rewire myself into like a Zoom.

MAN: Socially, it was pretty rough.

WOMAN: I really thrived in online learning.

MAN: It affected my family more than anything because my mom, she got laid off in a way so then that caused me to like, pick up a job.

MAN: I think it helped me become like a better and more responsible student and like son.

MAN: I was 12 when I got Instagram, and then 13 when I got Snapchat, don't tell my mom.

I was supposed to be 15.

WOMAN: I was 11 years old when I first download Instagram.

MAN: I hate social media.

WOMAN: I'm kind of addicted to it honestly.

WOMAN: Personally, I find it healthy, to kind of distract myself and just see the TikTok dances.

WOMAN: When I wake up, I just turn on my phone and I go on TikTok.

When I'm going to bed I'm on TikTok.

WOMAN: I love that it's so easy to look at stuff.

I love how I can see what people are doing.

I love being nosy but I hate how it consumes my day, it takes over hours that I could be doing something more productive.

WOMAN: I just couldn't look in the mirror.

And like see myself as a person I thought I saw myself as like the number of likes I got and the number of followers I had.

And I just like couldn't -- I couldn't stand opening Instagram.

But it was like an addiction.

I couldn't help it.

MAN: Biggest source of stress, it got to be this one.

WOMAN: My family and I's immigration status.

WOMAN: Just the unknown of the future.

I am a planner.

So it's really challenging for me to not know what's ahead.

WOMAN: I feel very nervous for graduation.

I'm not ready for it.

I'm not even prepared yet.

MAN: I want to be a firefighter when I'm older or playing NFL.

WOMAN: I want to be a dentist.

WOMAN: I see myself being a social worker.

I've been through like abuse, like homelessness.

So I just hope to like help other kids I have like been through the same things as me.

MAN: I definitely see myself in sports medicine, I definitely want to be one of the people you see on the sidelines ready to help the athletes when they're injured.

That's going to be just me right there.

MAN: And I'm going to be majoring in business management.

MAN: I want to transfer to a four year and major in construction management and eventually, you know, have my own business.

The future kind of scares me.

MAN: I'm stoked.

The future makes me feel stoked.

WOMAN: A lot of people my age have a hard time thinking about what they're going to be like 50 years from now or 60 years from now because like whether or not society even exists at that point is up for debate, so.

WOMAN: I hope that in 10 years, I will be having a lovely family and I'll have a steady job and, you know, kids and some cats.

I think that we have the opportunity to change the world and make a really beautiful place.

But also, if we don't act now, I think we're not going to live very much longer.

WOMAN: It's just always been very impressive in our lives that like oh, the world is like kind of going to end unless you fix it.

They just make it our problem, even though most of us are like under the age of 25.

So like what are we supposed to do?

I mean, that can't even vote yet almost.

WOMAN: There's so many misconceptions people have about my generation.

MAN: That we are total phone zombies, and that we are not willing to work for stuff and that we're lazy and that we're soft.

WOMAN: That we're sad, that we're so greatly affected by the pandemic that we're these different creatures and human beings that were produced by COVID.

But in reality, it just gave us like an opportunity to become different people and to really find ourselves and our personalities and what we like.

WOMAN: I think our generation is really focused on creating and change now.

MAN: I would ask my future self how my mental health is doing.

MAN: If I still feel nervous and if how would I be able to overcome that.

MAN: Have you grown as a person, do you have any regrets?

MAN: How's your relationship with God?

WOMAN: What problems have you solved?

And how's it affected people?

MAN: Did you achieve all new calls?

WOMAN: Are you successful in the way that you want to be successful?

MAN: That's good.

That's really good.

MAN: You have your business.

Yes.

Like, are you making money?

MAN: Did you make it?

WOMAN: Did you make it?

WOMAN: My name is Marissa Savridredre (ph).

MAN: My name is Matthew Diaz (ph).

MAN: My name is Adrian McGear (ph).

MAN: And this is our brief.

WOMAN: But spectacular take.

MAN: This is my brief but spectacular take.

WOMAN: Brief but spectacular take.

MAN: On being high school senior.

WOMAN: This is my brief but spectacular take on the future.

JOHN YANG: You can watch more brief but spectacular videos online at PBS.org/newshour/brief.