Hi Alysa,
As a fellow senior at Judge, I have been experiencing a lot of the same emotions. I am not someone who loved high school by any means, I have actually been quite eager to leave, but the abrupt ending was not how I wanted it to happen. I too have been plagued with the nagging “what ifs?” about when this is going to end and what our future holds. I really resonate with your reflection on how, “at one point everything was fine and then at the next everything was gone.” As a class, I think one of our biggest takeaways from COVID-19 is how quickly life can change. I have been reflecting on this idea, I hope it inspires us to live more in the moment and to appreciate our friends and families more once this is all over. I know it can be easy to slip into a negative mindset during these times and to feel alone, but we aren’t. We are all going through this together. If you need something inspiring and specific to the Class of 2020 I recommend watching President Obama’s commencement speech if you haven’t already. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta5anRPf8rQ. Here is another link that has resources on how to cope from the American Psychology Association: https://www.apa.org/topics/covid-19/student-stress. I hope to hear more from you on this topic! Do you think COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on the Class of 2020 and on our generation as a whole? What has helped you manage your stress and disappointment? I know things are hard right now and I am experiencing the same emotions you shared. Nonetheless, I know we will get through this! If you ever need to talk you can text me! I miss you, Alysa! You are an amazing writer!

I agree with you, Alysa. This senior year has been very different. Who would’ve thought the last day of the third quarter would be the end of senior year. I think we all had a little hope that we would go back by April but that didn’t work out as planned. We get no senior sunset, no prom, or graduation, and that’s very disappointing, to say the least; but we have been strong and we all have tried to stay connected with each other as best we can, and that’s all that matters. We may not get the experiences but we have the memories that will last forever. Stay strong class of 2020!!

We are all feeling very upset about how our senior has turned out. No one expected this to happen and now we are always going to remember our graduation but in a different way. We are doing everything virtually which isn’t as good as it should’ve been. We’ve all worked four year to get our special celebration at the end and now everything is changed because of the corona virus. It’s sad how we didn’t expect this to happen. We didn’t say our last goodbyes to each other. I agree with you, it’s been hard knowing that this was how we ended our high school life. We didn’t get to hug our friends before they head off to college, we weren’t able to do anything and many people are feeling the same emotions right now. Its been a crazy few months but we have been able to get through most of it. Now, we just have to finish strong and always cherish the best memories from the past years.