As of March 23, Governor Ralph Northam ordered that the school year of 2019-2020 be over, officially noting that students cannot return to school due to the pandemic. As a senior who is meant to graduate this year, this did not sit with me too well for a while. The emotions, the thoughts, physically not being able to do anything; it has become so overwhelming. That day, when I heard about the new order, I think I cried about seven times. 

Most would probably be happy, but this isn’t a happy time. We are in the middle of a pandemic, the primaries in our country are still going on, the general population and business owners cannot seem to find ways to pay rent or get rid of debt or loans. It’s stressful. On top of all this, seniors this year miss out on generations of tradition, the last interactions with their full class that they will remember, seeing favorite teachers (oh we certainly have favorites by the way) for the last time. That last game, last sports season, last A or even F, last day they could ever step foot in that big building. All of these events, activities, whatever you want to call it were things we genuinely looked forward to. 

I don’t blame the pandemic, I think that’s counterproductive, but as I’ve described it to a friend of mine, I have become nostalgic for the things that would happen. You know, we got excited for a couple days off school, we joked about it, but I didn’t want my last school year in this public school system to end like this. None of us did.

So I have a message for the class of 2020. It is okay to cry. It is okay to be angry and frustrated, filled with sorrow, whatever. Be vulnerable and soft. We started our high school career with the presidency of Trump and are now ending it with a pandemic. I don’t think anyone is allowed to call us weak now, we’ve grit our teeth through a long four years. Through all the mass shootings, protests for basic human rights, weird ELT schedules, that troubling tardy policy, inadequate climate change action, ever-present racism. I don’t think it’s uncommon for another tragedy to hit us. Though, I reassure you that this is the time to feel all these emotions. Be smart, stay safe, I know, but let it all out. There’s some of us that I know that really need to hear that. We have gone through so much, this pandemic just tops it off I guess. I hate to say it, but it almost makes sense that we’re going through this. I know, though, that this is another thing we can get through. Once it’s over, as my mother has reassured me, it will (hopefully) be brighter. There is still something to look forward to, there is still something to be positive about.

While I find all of this to be sad, I also know that we still need to stay home. There are rumors that will go around, maybe your parents have shown something off of Whatsapp (I know mine have). The best possible advice I can give is: Don’t go out unless it’s necessary. No house parties, no small game nights, none of that. No, this isn’t something like that intruder drill we practiced at school. This is an actual emergency. I love you all so much. Please stay safe, and maybe after all this ends, we’ll see each other again and have the best time of our lives before going our separate ways.