Well Class of 2020, here we are. We made it to the end of the road. And boy, what a rocky road it’s been. 

We’ve dealt with crazy teachers, AP testing disasters, fire alarms, shooting threats, senior pranks, and so much more it’s difficult to recall it all. So isn’t it fitting that to top it all off, the cherry on top of this cake, is we’re the class hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

Right when everything in our lives is supposed to be changing, everything that wasn’t supposed to change did. The things we’ve been looking forward to for years, since we knew they existed most likely, such as ball, graduation ceremonies, senior trips, and summer plans, are all gone. 

But I mean hey, why not? With the three and a half years of trash we’ve had for a high school experience, I suppose it’s only fitting that it ends in a raging dumpster fire. 

We’ve worked hard, harder on this than we’ve probably ever worked on anything, and we were promised our hard work would be rewarded. Whether it be with ball or parties or just some good old fashioned stupid and highly regretable stuff with equally reckless people we call friends.

Now we don’t even get to hug our friends goodbye. We’re going places, going all around the country, and we may never see some of these people again. 

I, for one, demand a refund. 

This is not the graduation present I asked for. Please tell me someone kept the gift receipt.

But isn’t that just the way it is sometimes? Someone must’ve taken a look at us and thought, “Yeah, these idiots. They’re definitely the ones that deserve to suffer.”

I wanna talk with whichever god decided that our class specifically should be born into a world where planes came down from the skies to kill people, and be leaving our homes into a world where more people are dying than we ever killed in the Vietnam War. 

(cracks knuckles) Honestly, i just wanna talk. A civil conversation. We could even break out some tea because I’m really not following this logic.

“Not only do they not get any recognizable celebration or recognition of their efforts,” this evil being must have thought, “but the ones that wanted to go to college and needed to get out from under their parents’ roof to start establishing a life of their own? NOPE!

“Oh, you think you’re headed to a CSU in the fall? Haha. No, you’re not. Not until after Christmas anyway. What’s that about your mental health and need for independence? Oh sorry, I can’t hear you. Lmao my bad :///” 

And the terrible thing is that it’s gotten to the point where the days blend together, even the things that used to bring joy and excitement start to feel dull. We’re living groundhog day in real life, and it’s not nearly as exciting as the Bill Murray film made it seem. 

It may feel like everything around you is unraveling at the seams: your relationships, your future, your sanity, the whole world even. And that would be because it is. Everything might seem a little hopeless right now and you know what? It’s OK to feel that way. It’s valid.

The other day a friend in college asked me, “What are you doing for graduation?” My response: “What do you mean? There is no graduation for us.”

When my mom said, “After the end of the pandemic…”, I cut in with, “You mean never?” 

We as a generation have never had to survive something as life changing as this, and right now it feels like there’s no end in sight. 

But like I heard the other day completely out of context from the TV, “The great thing about both good times and bad times is they pass,” said some lady with blonde hair. I think. 

So stay positive and stay strong, my fellow classmates. We can do this if we stick together. Just not too close together. There’s a bit of a virus going around.