One last hug, one last hallway high five, one last walk. There are so many things the seniors have been looking forward to. Senior year is a time for many new beginnings but it is also a time for bittersweet goodbyes. We have come so far from our first steps to walking across that graduation stage. At least, that’s what we wanted to do. 

So often we are told that high school is going to be the best days of our lives. I used to just shake my head and laugh, but now I am starting to wonder if they were right. I have never wanted to go back to school so badly in my entire life. This is way worse than starting a show on Netflix only to find out they discontinued the show after three seasons. It’s that moment of disappointment when you realize there is no next episode option. 

COVID-19 has put a screeching halt to any senior plans being a possibility. There aren’t many things that can be done with the six foot limit. You can’t hug your friends who you have known since elementary at their grad parties and wish them luck at college. Instead we get a paragraph about it on our Facebook timelines. You can’t be handed your diploma as you walk across the stage unless they attach it to the end of a six foot pole. 

To make matters worse, we are told that “It’s not the big of a deal” or that “There are bigger problems in the world right now.” We have been hounded for the last few years. Told that we “Need to do more. Reach higher. Score better.” Our feelings shouldn’t have to be invalidated due to a crisis that is completely out of our control.

Our last high school memories have been spent behind the screens of our Chromebooks and on Zoom calls. To me, all these memories meant so much more. My mother passed away in September of my junior year. Since walking into high school my very first time in eighth grade, I had been told that junior year was going to be the hardest part of my high school career. I had no idea just how right they were. My world came crashing down around me. I did my best to stay on top of all my assignments and assessments. I had to put aside doing some of the things that I loved so I could focus on school. 

I understand what it is like missing out on school. At the end of the day, regardless of how much I have said that I hate school, that is where I want to be. I would love to be sitting in those uncomfortable school desks or in the commons with my friends waiting for the first bell to ring. 

At the end of this quarantine, nothing is going to stop me from eventually walking across that stage to get my diploma. Our entire senior class should be proud of themselves. The senior class of 2020 will be marked down in history for graduating the way we did. Our personal sacrifices might go unnoticed, but not to us. We had to give up so much of our senior year. It was worth it and we have earned it.