You have worked for over a decade to graduate, you envision that moment of walking across the stage to recognize all of your hard work and dedication for years, and suddenly it's all taken away. My first reaction to hearing that we wouldn't have a graduation this year, which is the year that I graduate high school, was devastation. However, to some people this issue may not be such a big deal, and I understand that. I understand that people are dying alone in hospitals, medical professionals working day and night to save lives, and people losing their loved ones without getting to say goodbye, but that doesn't mean we can't feel emotions about our own problems. We have to comprehend that there is a difference between our problems, and those of others. To me it's simple, I have had the luck of not having to personally lose someone to the awful virus, but I have lost things. I have lost time, just like anyone else, but it feels different for me because maybe by the time this is all over it will be time to move away and start college, which means I never got that time with the other kids who I have grown up with, been to school with, and spent my whole childhood with. It means, we didn't get those last few months to spend time with each other and cherish all the memories we have made up until this point. So the class of 2020 has suffered a loss and it is nothing like the loss of people who have lost family members, but It is OKAY to be upset.
With everything going on, there isn't much to do but wait for the storm to pass, which is what we have been doing. However, even when the storm does pass and we start to go on about our daily lives, chances are there will be a new kind of normal. But until the storm does pass we get to be upset, angry, sad, and a mix of all of those whenever we want. There is no right or wrong way to feel about what is happening to all of us, but with everyone dealing with different issues and perspectives, it is important to understand that others' problems don't invalidate our own. We are in this together, and we will get out of it together, but until then it is vital that we all do our part.
