COVID-19 has ruined things for a lot of people in many different ways. In particular one large group that is affected by the social distancing the virus has caused are the high school and college graduates of 2020.

Many schools have different solutions to the question about what to do in regards to graduation. Some schools are holding the graduations off until it is safe again, some are having Zoom graduations, and others are doing small in person group graduations.

None of those options are what the 2020 graduating class had in mind while they were thinking of graduation before COVID-19. But it is the reality now.

I have two really important graduates this year, one being my sister who graduated from high school and the other who is one of my best friends graduating from college. I know that this is not what they had in mind for graduation and that it seems unfair.

My sister and friend are just some of the many graduates from this year who worked tirelessly to get their diploma only to not be able to celebrate it fully.

However, that doesn't undermine their accomplishments at all. They may not be walking across the stage in a cap and gown with their peers, but that isn't what fully makes up the experience of graduating.

Graduating is so much more than the end picture with the diploma in hand.

What it really is are the countless nights you stayed up studying, the hours you spent reading textbooks, conversations with your teachers, and the time you spent with your friends. And you did all of that!

Years later you will still have your diploma, but that won't be what was the most important thing. What will really matter and what you will remember are all the happy memories along with the memories of the times when you had to go get through something difficult.

So to all of the 2020 graduates out there, it is OK to feel upset and disappointed that graduation didn't happen the way you had planned, but just remember that either way you still accomplished something important and that when this is all over you will get your chance to celebrate with people you care about. And if anything this speaks to the strength this generation has in dealing with tough times.