Does This Mean The End? A Letter to the Class of 2020

Since Freshman year we have been looking forward to it, the graduation, the parties, the water wars, the senior celebration… everything. I’m sure it feels like yesterday you were a freshman, and I bet you never imagined it would end this way either. It’s hard to be upset, just take one look at the news and immediately you feel guilty about all of the innocent people dying. But it’s okay. It is OK to be upset with this outcome.

March 12, 2020.

A day I know that will be taught and educated as to the beginning of what (currently…) feels like the end. It’s hard to look back on life before the Corona Virus and its grip on humanity.

Each day feels the same, the same routine of getting up, glancing over the countless emails from teachers, sitting and attempting to complete whatever schoolwork I can, some exercise outside, dinner, and then a long night of restlessness scrolling, texting, and watching movies, Tik Toks and Netflix. Never in a million years would I thought that this would be the ‘new normal’, but it is. My life before this consisted of working two jobs, hours at school, studying, going to the gym, going out and getting coffee, hanging out with friends. And now it seems like a faraway memory.

I can’t begin to think about the lasting social repercussions of this virus. Will I become an anxious flyer? Will I hate being in social situations with a lot of people? How will I fill the social void of graduation, prom, and senior celebration?

See, this is where I begin to struggle the most. All my life, every Teen movie or TV show always had the “prom” and the “graduation”, it was a right of passage in every coming of age movie. Now, it simply feels like the end. How will I gain my closure? The number of social sacrifices my friends and I have given up in order to study, and achieve, with that mental image of crossing that stage and getting that diploma. So what now? It’s difficult to get into this headspace because you begin to lose hope and lose your sense of identity. So here’s a list of non-cliches that you can look forward to once social distancing is over.

• Seeing your friends
• Coffee shops and restaurants and new clothes
• Touching flowers, the feeling of the ocean and the beach
• The feeling the sunset on your face and in your car as you drive
• The smell of your favorite restaurant
• The endless faces in the hallways
• Dressing nice for school
• The playlist as you drive to school
• The sunrise in the mornings when you wake up to leave for school
• Laughing with your friends and extended family
• Iced teas and iced coffees
• Going places and doing things
• The anticipation of graduate and prom
• The feeling of excitement to start a new life at college
• Getting ice cream
• Putting on your cap and gown

I hope that list gave you something to look forward to. Feel free to comment on some other things that you are excited about.

But here’s my message to seniors. Although this changes a lot of what we wanted, and of what we hoped for. It is something we all have to experience and this will form a bond between all of us. Some times things happen, and we need to compromise, which is why social distancing is in place. The quarantine can give you new hobbies, maybe you want to learn to paint, bake, or workout more. It is an opportunity to sit still, watch the world, and take into consideration how grateful you should be for our freedoms and daily rituals that we now miss so much. I believe that this is going to be okay eventually. And until then it is important to be grateful for what you have.

As hard as this all is, it is important to know that we are all in this together. Although this isn’t the ending that we all dreamed of, we are healthy, and we are being safe.