A Letter to High School Seniors
Seniors across the country are all in this together!
Right now, we are living through a historical pandemic. The Corona Virus has impacted every corner of the world in so many different ways. For example, the world’s economy has been suffering since the lock downs started. In the United States, all companies are feeling the effects because only essential businesses are allowed to remain open and essential workers are the only ones that are supposed to be working in the public during this time. The stock market has also taken a major hit and people are suffering because of it. As of today, April 23rd 2020, there are 2,658,062 confirmed cases in the world and 184,643 deaths. These are really high numbers! It’s important to recognize that people have lost their lives to this virus and when diagnosed, it’s not an easy battle. While we don’t know how long this will continue, people around the world have missed out on the past 2 months of their lives. Sadly, seniors in high school and college are missing out on all of their “lasts.”
Even though most of us have complained about going to school since we started 13 years ago, we are wishing to have our time back in the classrooms with our classmates. We are missing our teachers and boring lessons that dragged on too long and the teachers that were more like friends to us. We miss sitting in uncomfortable desks and chatting with our classmates. The hallways that used to be filled with conversations, laughing and music are silent now in the middle of what should be the school day. Untouched lockers have belongings that were left behind when school was closed on a random weekend morning. No one was expecting this to last so long. The vending machines that we used as an excuse to walk around the school are stocked full because we aren’t there to buy water bottles and bags of chips. There are people we met in that one random class that created a sudden friendship. We don’t get to wave “Good Morning” to the administration in the building or sit in our guidance counselors offices with the ability to talk about any problems we have with counselors that we trust. Our senior parking spots sit empty next to the school when just months ago it was packed with all of our cars. We miss yelling to our friends across the lot and being extra careful not to hit anyone in between the rows. We wish to have those hot spring days back when we were forced to walk around the track by our gym teachers during gym class. Even pointless hours of testing would be better than the long weeks of quarantine that seem to have no end.
All students, seniors especially, have a lot to say about what’s going on right now. A senior at Point Pleasant Boro, Emma Tierney shared with us how she feels personally about what she misses most. Tierney explained, “what I miss most is being able to pull into the senior lot and seeing everyone happy everyday. I miss saying hello to one another then being able to walk into school together, getting my daily morning hello from Mr. Kenney. Getting to walk in the hallways with my friends and having a good laugh in between periods always brought joy to my day. I especially miss all of my friends that I have spent these last four years with and the people who have worked so hard on homework, assignments, tests, and college applications just to see it be messed up on that random day in March. I miss the teachers who have shaped and pushed me these past few years to be my absolute best. Of course, I miss the laughs and my friends but most of all I miss those many memories that I made in Point Boro within the past four years that I will cherish forever.”
Everyone is dealing with this madness differently, but our entire country is going through this together. This pandemic may have brought disappointment to many but it is making us stronger and bringing us together. It is making us more appreciative of all of the little things in life, the coffee dates with your friends before school and the hugs you give to your family members. So far, America has been on quarantine for almost two months. There is no date for when life will be back to normal so this could be the new normal for a while. Between the months of March and June, seniors in high school have missed out on a lot. Their final months of high school are supposed to be the best part of their entire high school experience yet none of these senior highlights are allowed to happen.
When the pandemic started, I don’t think that the seniors at Point Boro were expecting this. We weren’t expecting a random Friday halfway through March to potentially be the end of our high school career, we thought we had more time. More time to make memories instead of reminiscing them. If you told me in the beginning of my senior year that I wouldn’t be able to spend the last months of it in school, in my classrooms and hallways with my best friends and teacher, I would have told you that you’re crazy and cruel. But here we are, two months into quarantine and no end in sight. The class of 2020 across the country is experiencing the same heartbreak right now. It’s important to keep in mind that this will end one day, hopefully soon. The quarantine and social distancing laws will be lifted and that day we will celebrate like never before. Us, seniors, are trying not to get our hopes up but it really would be amazing to walk through the halls of Point Pleasant Borough High School one last time.