To the person reading this,
I'm sure you've heard of this global pandemic affecting our country, coronavirus (COVID-19). If you haven't, I'm not exactly sure what you've been doing.
In the span of a little less than two weeks, this virus has overtaken our country, limited social gatherings, and ended the school years for many students. Social distancing may seem like a trivial sacrifice in a time like this, but I can promise you that to the class of 2020, it's nothing short of heartbreaking.
SEE ALSO: If You Think The Class Of 2020 Is 'Over-Exaggerating' Right Now — I Promise You We Aren't
I'm normally not one to be upset about being alone. I don't mind not being around people, I often avoid them completely actually, but I was looking forward to spending the rest of my senior year with my graduating class.
This was supposed to be our year.
Our year to win the baseball championship or to cheer on our guy friends.
Our year to sing our senior solos at choir showcase.
Our year to get first dibs at lunch tables.
Our year to go with the person we wanted to go to prom with.
I've seen people becoming friends with people I never would have thought they'd speak to. Making new friends senior year is scary in itself, knowing there's a chance you'll never see them again, but you have solace in knowing you'll see those people every single day until you graduate.
We no longer have that solace. I can't tell you how heart-wrenching it was knowing that I won't get to see my homeroom group, people that I look forward to seeing every day, maybe until the day we graduate (if we get to walk across the stage.)
It may seem selfish to be upset over something as trivial as having prom taken away, or a senior baseball season or soccer season, but I implore you to consider the last time you spoke to someone in your senior class.
My graduating class is made up of 128 people, most of whom are planning to go to college far away from our home state. This was our last quarter to be together. One last night to dress up with the people we've been with since sixth grade and have a good time.
This would have been some people's last time to ever play baseball, soccer, basketball, or dance for a school. This would have been the last time we ever had to make memories together.
We do understand how important it is that this virus is contained. We understand that it is very dangerous and that it is killing people. We understand there is no way we could have seen this coming or prevented this.
We do ask for sympathy and for you to understand that we didn't ask for this. No one did.
We may have FaceTime, Snapchat, Instagram, texting and any other form of communication possible, but nothing beats walking into school on a Monday morning and hugging your best friend after a long weekend. No one will know how special it is when your crush of four years hugs you in the hallway and calls you beautiful. Nothing is more special than spending time with your group of people in person.
Speaking for the class of 2020, we don't mean to be insensitive. We were just excited to finally have something that was ours, and to spend the rest of the year together.
We woke up one day with the news that we weren't going back to school, that our seasons were canceled, and that all of our social events were canceled. We're taking it all in, and it's a lot.
We ask that you bear with us in this time of confusion. We are scared, too. I've often heard from teachers and parents that the class of 2020 is the most anxiety-driven by far and I wholeheartedly believe that. We are not only scared for the fate of our final days in high school, but the fate of those around us due to this pandemic. Ask anyone in this class and they probably would say "this WOULD happen to us." We worry because we care.
These are interesting times in which we are growing up. Most of us were born post-9/11. We've never known a world in which TSA was laid back. We've never known a world in which cyber-security was not of the utmost importance. We've grown up in the birth of social media and technology. We've grown through the recession of 2008 and the Afghan and Iraq wars.
We never expected to be a part of a global pandemic at the end of our childhood and the beginning of our lives as young adults.
All we collectively ask for is your sympathy, and to remember how you felt when you realized that you'd never see some of the people in your class ever again.
We all thought this was supposed to be our year, and it was unexpectedly taken away. We're scared and we're mourning, and we're trying to get through this together.
— A High School Senior
