High School Graduation 2020: It’s all about the view.
This June, all across the country, high school seniors will be graduating just as they do every year. But this year will be different.
There will be no field day with the smell of barbecue rising in the air. No proms with girls, pastel lovely and newly sophisticated, and boys, handsome but slightly embarrassed in their tuxes. There will be no senior pranks; no signing yearbooks; no butterflies as you wait to march to your seats; no inspiring speech from the class valedictorian; no announcement of scholarship winners; and no proud, smiling families sitting in bleachers or auditoriums, waiting expectantly to see their child walk the stage and with outstretched hand claim his or her diploma from the high school principal.
COVID-19 has blocked that view. It has given us another, a panoramic perspective.
We feel gratitude and respect for the bravery and courage we see every day in our doctors, nurses, and first responders - police, fire fighters, EMTs. We have new found appreciation for those we might have taken for granted - those who work in supermarkets, in the post office or delivering the mail, truck drivers who bring us food and other essentials, transit and sanitation workers, and dedicated teachers. Heroes all.
We feel joy at all the outpourings of love: rainbows everywhere, chalk messages of hope on sidewalks, clapping for our essential workers and health care providers to show them some small measure of our thanks. We smile and cry at drive-by visits when teachers say hello to students or when a car caravan of relatives call a happy 50th anniversary to a husband and wife, holding hands and waving from their porch.
We are kinder to our neighbors and help them if we can. We stay in touch more, value each other more. We appreciate the beauty of spring from our windows as plants begin to bloom - colorful, joyous, impervious to the virus that has sent us into self-isolation..
We are more aware of our feelings, more sensitive to the feelings of others. We experience how much we need each other, and that is a very good thing. Last weekend, two neighbors hosted a socially distant gathering on their lawn. We sat in a circle six to 10 feet apart. It was more than chilly, but we talked and laughed for two hours. It was good just to be together.
Through this terrible time, graduating seniors and all of us have learned that we are stronger, more resilient and resolved than we ever knew. We are better for knowing this.
High school graduation 2020 will not be what anyone hoped or expected, but its memories will be just as indelible. Girls may put on that beautiful prom dress for a dance with dad; boys may let mom straighten the bow tie on a rented tux – all recorded on cell phones to be shared on social media. You may exchange laughs, dance in sync, and make promises and future plans on Zoom.
Seniors, you may have drive-through or virtual graduation ceremonies, celebrating at home with your families – complete with balloons, cake, presents, selfies, and pictures of each of you smiling broadly into the camera, holding your diploma open so that everyone can see your name. You will cry happy tears and bask in the constancy, love, and pride of family and friends.
The virus cannot change any of this. It just gives you a broader view, a different view of life, of yourselves, of others. You will compare memories at class reunions. You will tell the story of your graduation to your children. You will never forget this time. And you will move on, knowing that everything is possible, and there is nothing you can’t do.
In the words* of Dr. Seuss:
Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away!...…
…Out there things can happen; don’t worry, don’t stew……
…Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you……
…And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)…
…You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So..get on your way!
*Excerpts from Dr. Seuss (1990). Oh, the Places You’ll Go!