The last few weeks have been tough for students who will not go back to school buildings for the rest of the academic year, but this year’s senior classes have concerns that other students don’t.

Case Montanile, a senior at Brophy College Preparatory, a Jesuit high school in Phoenix, must deal with the changes that the COVID-19 closures have brought to his life – both positive and negative.

He said that the transition to learning at home was a little confusing at first.

“I mean, missing the last few months of school is definitely upsetting because of not being able to do things like prom or graduation at normal times, or different school trips – it hurts not to be able to do those and finish out your school year like a normal senior,” Montanile told Sports360AZ. “But I’m just trying to roll with it and where life takes me. I’m figuring out new ways to get things done, school wise and at my house.”

 After a week, he said that he’s starting to get used to it. Now, he has a routine down, and he’s hoping that this all ends soon. School starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 2:45 p.m. Some classes are 50-minute lectures, while others he said are more like "Here's your work, get it done."

"I tend to be a faster worker, so when people give me work, it’s like, I can bust this out in 30 minutes no break, then do whatever I want for the next 20 minutes. I like being able to work at my own pace,” Montanile told Sports360AZ.

Montanile set up his own 1½-hour soccer training session after school. Weight and a pull-up bar in his room take him fro 5 to 6 p.m.

 “After 6, it’s just like hanging out with my family, which is something I don’t usually get to do because of late soccer practices," he told Sports360AZ. "It’s working out better than usual. It’s an interesting way to go about life.”

While it’s been good for Montanile to create his own schedule, the social aspects have been a little more challenging to deal with. He said it’s also brought closer relationships with his schoolmates.

 Montanile said the biggest transition in dealing with the coronavirus stay-at-home and closure orders has been not getting to see so many people he usually did at school.

“It feels weird going throughout your day and just looking at a computer screen at other people you would usually be talking with an interacting with," he said to Sports360AZ.

Instead of his lunch break that allowed him to talk with people and hang out, he usually just grabs his lunch or a snack.

“So that’s definitely the weirdest for me. It brings more deeper conversations out people’s feelings have come out a lot more," he told Sports360AZ. 

He said he's taking the changes better than some classmates.

"Some of my classmates are really upset about not being able to graduate like a normal senior. I’m just trying to stay positive about the whole situation,” Montanile told Sports360AZ.

Montanile is a two-time state champion and All American soccer player. Before the premature end to the school year, Montanile and his teammates were able to finish out their season with a championship win.  

“We got so lucky that we were able to finish out our championship and we didn’t have to play it like four months later. Being able to finish out the season was I’m so grateful for," he said to Sports360AZ.

The baseball team plays a springtime season. A lot of other spring season sports teams barely got to play before losing their entire season, he said.

“If I wasn’t able to finish out my senior year season, I would have been absolutely devastated. It was nice to finish out with a state championship,” he told Sports360AZ.

Montanile will attend the University of California at Irvine and play soccer. He has plans to study business information management.