Patterson Pandemic Seniors Class of 2020
Hey, Class of 2020!
This Year didn’t turn out the way it's supposed to. You're probably feeling worried or anxious about the future. You missed out on all of the events & activities that you had planned.
I get it
But one thing I know- you deserve to be CELEBRATED.
Senior year is for senior portraits. Last time for you to play sports for your school. The last performances as a highschool student. You order your cap and gown. You probably worried about the SAT or military entrance ASVAB exam, or applied to get into your dream college or a specialty program. Maybe you were planning a big graduation party and then moving into a shared apartment with a best friend, or a road trip with a buddy. You were thinking about senior ditch day or senior assassins (and not getting caught), and senior sunset. Grad night and prom & signing yearbooks. Some of you were going to be the first one in your family to graduate and walk that stage. Others are the baby the last sibling to graduate, finally this was your time to shine. Some were supposed to be valedictorian and give a speech, along with the school president and class president. Many of you earned medals and cords to mark exceptional study. You were going to drape them around your neck, in your cap and gown.
All the events that define your senior year. Sober grad night after the graduation ceremony. The last times with your friends before your lives change forever and you go your separate ways into adulthood.
It is all gone now. You have been seeing your friends on a screen, not in person. Your times to simply hang out have disappeared and you now have to wear a mask to even go outside. Rather than planning a graduation party and figuring out who gets a ticket to attend, you now cannot see anyone and there is nothing to attend.
COVID19 is dangerous. It’s deadly. It’s taking lives around the world. It’s scary. Your parents and many grandparents have never seen anything like this. The pandemic is awful. It is changing our communities and the world.
This virus stole major milestones and events from so many. It took away time with our friends. High school seniors aren’t supposed to be home all the time. This is the year for memorable chaos. Now school is on a computer now all the teachers are online.
Some people are minimizing the losses by comparing them to the deaths caused by COVID 19.
Many seniors don't share how much this hurts because they feel selfish or they don’t want to stress parents. Their parents may already be stressed by working from home or job loss or fears for friends and family
Some seniors can't express or find the words to say what this means to them.
We can't compare losses. Nobody can tell us how to feel.
2020 Seniors are the first to experience this loss.
Talk to each other, tell you friends how awful everything feels.
Hang out together online.
Use all that creativity and all those skills that belong to only your generation. Create what you want and how you want to do it. Ask for space if you need it. Express how you feel, draw, paint, create music, rap, dance, run or write. Express those feelings in a way that works for you. Make a scrapbook or journal documenting your life or how much it has changed. Start planning your future or planning for college. Make an amazon wish list. Appreciate this life, yes this is the new normal. Thank God for another day. Pray about everything worry about nothing, be resilient. One day you will have 2020 hindsight and you will reflect on it all. Today it is all about 2020 vision, so start dreaming about your future now.
Take your big day and events back. Even if your school is not doing it, you and your friends and families can plan something to honor and celebrate you. Participate in a graduation parade in your community. Make your own graduation stage. Have your own prom. Take your senior portraits in your cap & gown. Print those pictures hang them in your house and post them on social media. The class of 2020 is making history give them something interesting to talk about.
Class of 2020, you will get through this. You have losses that can't be replaced. You will never get this time back but you can make it your time. You are the future class of 2020, you will change the world. This is still your year take it back. Live the life you want to live.
Celebrate~ Love~ Dream… Shine on!
