This pandemic has thrown nearly every person in America, and quite frankly - the world, through a loop. And it continues to do so. It hasn't been easy. Many people have contracted the potentially-deadly virus, many people have lost their jobs, and many college graduates lost their graduations and job offers.

Needless to say, it's been challenging. As a soon-to-be senior, I cannot even begin to fathom what it would be like to go unrecognized for, quite literally, a lifetime of hard-work and dedication for many 20-somethings. And not just that, but many of these hardworking students lost the job offers they had literally spent their entire life working towards. These graduates were left, lost and forgotten, in a frightening world of chaos and sickness.

Despite all of this, though, they never lost their hope, their light, and the positive attitudes they were hired for in the first place. Many people criticized them for feeling upset about losing their graduations and job offers, calling them "unsympathetic" and "insensitive." But I wholeheartedly disagree.

Every graduate I know has expressed their gratefulness for society's increased health and safety, despite losing their graduations. They have showed nothing but strength and courage and respect. But no matter how strong and caring they are, they have every right to feel hurt and disappointed. Anyone who puts their hearts and souls into four years of hard work and dedication (or, arguably, their entire lives), deserves to be recognized.

And now, more than ever, they deserve the right to at least feel sad for not having that recognition. We live in crazy and unpredictable times, but one thing is for certain, human beings have risen up to show their strength and fortitude amidst a scary pandemic.

And after talking to one of my closest friends - Courtney, a Class of 2020 college graduate - it proved to me something I already knew (and something I think the whole world should know): The Class of 2020 is strong, caring, and we owe them a lot of respect for how they have handled this entire situation with grace and fortitude. Congratulations Class of 2020, you will have an overflowing abundance of resilience and perseverance that the work force has never seen before!

Here is everything Courtney had to say about ending her senior year virtually and graduating in the middle of a pandemic...