When I began my senior year of high school, I most certainly was not expecting to finish it over a month early. Like every other senior in Arkansas, I was expecting to get to walk in front of my classmates to accept my diploma. For obvious reasons, this was not the reality for the Class of 2020.
During my senior year, I was most looking forward to extracurricular-based activities. My band was going to take a trip to Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida during spring break; I'd been to Disney before but never Universal, and I was soooo looking forward to getting my own Harry Potter wand. As a music kid, other things I was looking forward to were pretty obvious: state band and choir assessment, spring concerts, musicals, banquets, etc. Obviously, none of these things happened.
The last day of school was interesting. My friends and I were complaining about how our trip to Florida was getting canceled, all the while really just hoping the rest of our senior year wouldn't end prematurely. In the middle of my 3A choir class, the intercom sounded, and the school was instructed to head to the auditorium where we would discuss how this COVID-19 thing would affect the rest of the school year. At this point in time, the virus was just picking up, and though we ended school early that day, the school board expected us to be back on Monday.
Honestly, it was a little shocking to me when Governor Hutchinson announced that schools would not be in session for the rest of the school year. It was like I was all of a sudden experiencing the stages of grief. It didn't feel real. This major life event that we had been promised all our lives had been taken away.
Luckily, my school had a plan of action ready. Every year, the traditional plan for the seniors' last day of school included the senior breakfast, walk (where we would walk all around campus for everyone to see us in our caps and gowns), and slideshow. Since all of this was no longer possible, the senior drive-in celebration was born.
We paraded onto campus in our suburban mom cars, cheered on by our teachers on the sidelines, and the faint sound of Coach Carter singing Alice Cooper's "School's Out" in the background. The parking lot was full, and one kid had rented a limo and took up several spaces in the back. A projection from our principal's computer was blown up on the front of our fine arts building.
The teachers had taken the time to read Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss clip by clip, with each teacher getting a page, which was lovely, and Mr. Sloan reenacted a skit from his schoolwide famous take on the folklore of Baba Yaga's chicken hut (if you're interested in seeing this comedy gold, click here ), although he couldn't actually jump over any of us this time. A few seniors finally presented the senior slideshow they had spent the entire year on; it featured hundreds of pictures and videos of the Class of 2020 from recent months all the way back to the kindergarten days. I submitted around 150 pictures, that way I KNEW my friends and I would be in it.
My favorite part (and it's always my favorite part of the senior celebration days) was the 4th? annual Grahammys. Our school principal, Mr. Graham, gives out awards every year that can be really heartfelt or just really funny. Two students this year became the possibly proud, but more likely annoyed, recipients of the "Most Unimpressed" award because they constantly think everything Mr. Graham says is ridiculous. I was very excited to get the "T.E.A.S." award for "Talent, Effort, Art, & Soul", as he put it.
Virtual graduation was an occasion quite unlike any other I've ever been to. The valedictorians (we had four, somehow) and the single salutatorian recorded their speeches beforehand, and I sang the school's alma mater.
Each senior and their four guests arrived in the parking lot at a specific time according to GPA, and our temperatures were taken as if we were at a doctor's appointment. Every group of five stood six feet apart. I kept waving at my friends and favorite teachers, although it was fairly difficult to tell who a lot of people were with the masks covering most of their faces. Though our families had to keep theirs on as they cheered and snapped photos from in front of the orchestra pit, we seniors were allowed to take ours off right before we walked across the stage, which made for much better pictures. Mask balled up in my right fist and hidden at my side, I proudly walked across the stage that I had performed on so many times and completed my high school career.
The prerecorded videos and the handing of the diplomas will be put onto a DVD and sent to each family. As excited as I am to start my college experience, I know I'll miss high school. There were times I hated it, as most students do, but the busy halls, noisy classrooms, and caring teachers all shaped me into who I am now, and I will never forget them.
And though I will never sing with you as a student, I will forever stand by your side, singing "hail to Westside High!"