To the senior who lost their graduation this year,

There's nothing I could say to you that could fully take away the pain and disappointment you must be feeling. I myself received an email this week that my university has postponed our commencement ceremony all the way to December, a full eight months after we are supposed to take the stage and celebrate all our accomplishments with our friends and family. We are all afraid that some people will not be able to travel back to our college for the ceremony and that we will have been so far removed from our college years, the ceremony will no longer be our top priority. This is happening to college students all over the nation.

To every college senior in the world, I am truly sorry. You deserve to celebrate every step of the journey you've been on for the last four years.

I'm sure that for some of you, the day you first opened your acceptance envelope feels like yesterday. When you saw the word "Congratulations" on the top of the page, I'm sure you felt a rush of excitement knowing that you had found where you would spend the next four years of your life. A weight was probably lifted off your shoulders when you realized you didn't have to sit by and worry about your future when it came to college. Your next chapter in life had officially begun, and it seemed like the whole world was before you!

And for the next four years, you made enough memories to last a lifetime. You met new friends, traveled to exciting places, and made some important decisions about your future. You have taken wonderful photos that you will cherish forever, and I'm sure you will look back on these memories and laugh, cry, or simply crack a smile.

All of that was brought to a screeching halt within the last few weeks, and there's no way to reconcile this situation.

Within just a few short days, all of your last moments were pushed about a month early. Goodbyes you hadn't been looking forward to saying in the first place now had to happen way too soon. Your last day on your college campus was most likely filled with unhappy tears, confusion, and rushed packing, when it should have been filled with happy tears and a packing session where you reflected on all the wonderful things that had happened in the past year.

This is clearly not how anyone could have predicted their senior year ending, but I want to leave you with some encouragement. This ending does not minimize any of your accomplishments that you made this year. Finishing college is no small feat, and you have every reason to be proud of yourself.

You have every right to be upset about losing your graduation and the end to your senior year. This is something no one should have to experience. But you should still celebrate and rejoice in the fact that you have done something incredible. You are smart, accomplished, and amazing, and no virus can take that away.