The world needed some love and some very determined parents delivered for those soon-to-be high school graduates. All over Facebook there is pages and groups called "Adopt A Senior". These pages are essentially little pots of gold at the end of this unfortunate rainbow that is the Coronavirus. Here's how it works:
1. Join a page.Â
They have different ones for states, counties, and even cities, so get looking! When you find one that's a match for you and where you live, join the group or better yet, have your parents join it for you. Parents love Facebook after all and many people are willing to adopt their friends children, friends of friends children, or even co-workers with children.
2. Post a profile.Â
Pick some good pictures of yourself, perhaps in a uniform or at club events. Write up a little excerpt about yourself, making sure to include all your high school accomplishments, what school you're graduating from, and what your post-graduation plans are.
3. Sit back and wait.Â
People on the page will read through the profiles on the page and if they are interested, they'll "adopt" you. You will then provide your "adopter" with a list of things that you like (colors, sweets, etc.) and then you wait for the kind soul to play Santa Claus for you.
There's even a convenient Tik Tok for reference.
The whole point of Adopt a Senior is for the people and families that are able to bring the seniors that are missing some pretty important life events some joy in this pandemic. With the dynamic of the Facebook groups, you may get someone you (or your parents) know to adopt you, or you may get a complete stranger. If you are adopted, you stand to receive a care package (or more if your "adopters" are super generous) with all the things that you like. I've seen stories online where people have gotten cars, gift cards with more than generous amounts, but most of the time the gifts include merchandise for their future school, sweets that they like, and gift cards to supplement their purchases for college, such as dorm supplies and books).
Obviously, there's always people that can afford more than others and people that will go above and beyond in their gifts. My family personally adopted a senior and we gave him a basket with a personalized cup for the college he committed to, a dozen homemade cupcakes, a beach ball, large inflatable foil balloons (a 20 for the class of 2020), a box of Oreos, and his favorite candy.
Seniors, keep in mind that any adoption at all and any gifts received are a gift and something you should be beyond grateful for. It means a whole lot coming from someone you know and you should be grateful regardless, but especially if your gift comes from a generous "adopter" that has no relation to you or your family whatsoever.
No matter what, I believe you should be taking all the advantages that you can get out of this less than ideal situation.
Go (have your parents) put yourself out there on those Facebook pages and let a very kind human "adopt" you!
*If you are interested in adopting a senior, you can ask to join or be invited into one of these groups and read through the profiles to see which senior(s) you'd want to adopt! The parents on the page are usually super happy to see their children get adopted and are more than cooperative with anything you'd need. Make sure though once you adopt a Senior, the person who made the initial post puts edits it to say "ADOPTED" so that every senior gets a chance to become adopted.*