SAN ANTONIO -- Sabrina Perales was gripping her acceptance letter to The University of Incarnate Word (UIW), excited for the future.
- Burbank seniors to wear white gowns for graduation
- Traditional involves choosing between white and orange
- Students have spent last part of school year at home
“It was honestly exciting because I am the first to go and graduate college,” Perales says.
Before Perales heads off to nursing school at UIW, she and her Burbank High School classmates will be the third graduating class - in this century - to cross the stage wearing white gowns.
“I feel like I’ll get it dirty too quick, it’s just like in the package and it’s pearly. It’s white and it’s like the glory thing in my room,” Perales says.
Burbank seniors pick their graduation colors - traditional orange gowns or white gowns
It's something Perales has dreamed about since elementary school
“Burbank had a kindergartner and a senior come together and they would like bond, so I was like I can’t wait to go to Burbank and experience a senior year,” Perales says.
But Perales, like other seniors in Texas, are spending the best of months their lives at home.
“Some people aren’t used to being at home all day - people would use school or after school as an escape,” Perales says.
The pandemic also spoiled their senior festivities
“Not being able to experience senior skip day, or not being able to see promposals,” Perales says. “I was so excited to see proposals. I was so excited to be proposed to prom.”
San Antonio ISD updated its graduation date list and Burbank’s falls on July 27. Perales’ class set a date for prom on July 10.
The exterior of Burbank High School in San Antonio, Texas, appears in this image from April 2020. (Jose Arredondo/Spectrum News)
“I know my class is really grateful for all of it, and we are just all excited to see each other again, our teachers, especially the ones we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to,” Perales says.
Although she'll be the first to attend college, she won't be the first in her family to wear Burbank's white gown. Her brother walked the stage in 2010.
“He has this picture - at the bottom of him, down at the bottom - and he’s looking back smiling at the camera, and I wanted to remake that picture,” Perales says.
Maybe it isn't quite the way she imagined, but this senior's last moments of high school will be unforgettable.
“Because when you look back this will all be gone,” Sabrina Perales’ father, Angel Perales, said to her.