This article is not written to minimize the trauma that people who have been impacted by coronavirus are going through. I do not take my health for granted and I hope that everyone stays safe and healthy.
Senior year of college.
A last hoorah before being jostled into the ever so scary… don't say it… real world.
A time to celebrate all the late nights in the library when you couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel, the organizations that brought you unimaginable experiences, and the yearlong sleepover with the people you will miss most. A time to reflect on accomplishments, mistakes- yes many, and personal growth. A time to experience our much anticipated college "lasts." Begging the question, what do you do when it's cut short?
About 5 million college students are expected to graduate with the class of 2020, yet it still feels unfair.
We signed up for four years of college. Not three and a half, but four. We expected a traditional graduation ceremony with a cap and gown and the exhilarating feeling of getting handed a diploma. A moment in our lives that we want to tell our future children about. Above all, we're not ready to say goodbye. We yearn to be rushing out the door to class, spending hours talking to our roommates, and getting ready to frequent the small, crowded college bar we've grown to love. There's only one way to say it, we feel robbed.
After this is over, our normalcy won't be restored as we know it.
We won't be able to get back these months of lost memories. We won't be able to sit in an undergrad college classroom or experience another college formal. However, the class of 2020 will be left with a greater sense of appreciation for the memories we did have the chance to make. We won't take for granted moments of pure bliss and happiness. We will have a better understanding of the uncertainty guaranteed in this life. And we may just live in a more loving, compassionate, and empathetic world.
So now what? Well, we are left with amazing people, amazing memories, a higher education, and the world at our fingertips.
We may have been stripped of our college "lasts," but we are left with so many college "forevers." Class of 2020, we're in this together.
Hug a college senior a little tighter.
