YR Media’s Lucy Barnum is graduating high school this year, but instead of a sense of accomplishment, she’s left with a sense of loss.
I’ve been looking forward to my high school graduation since kindergarten. I remember my teachers dressed up in caps and gowns for Halloween and holding signs that read “Class of 2020.”
But because of the coronavirus, my senior year and graduation have been totally derailed.
Earlier this year, I had my school picture taken in a cap and gown with a golden 2020 tassel. I’ve had ideas for how to decorate my grad cap since last August. Besides graduation, I had a list of things I was doing to celebrate my last year. I was helping my friends plan our senior prank and skip day. I wanted to hit a home run in my final softball season and take prom pictures at the Palace of Fine Arts with my friends. But those things won’t be possible.
Now, we’ll have a “drive-through” graduation at my school’s parking lot. But it feels anti-climactic, and a little weird. It’s baffling to think my high school experience has culminated in Zoom classes instead of a real senior spring.