I personally think saying that my senior year was ruined is an overstatement. I got the best last marching season I could ever ask for with the band. I didn’t have to do a lot of the sentimental ceremonies and traditions I was never interested in, and I get to graduate as scheduled at Texas Motor Speedway, which is way cooler than the Super Pit. Not to mention, online school and a pass/fail quarter has been quite fantastic for those with a case of senioritis, but I feel a lot worse for seniors in college having to somehow finish high-level classes, clinicals and senior projects online. 

Yes, the yard signs are really cute. Yes, I got my senior pictures posted on three different Instagram accounts. Yes, I got adopted on Facebook and received a pretty sweet gift basket.

But despite all that, this still sucks, and what hits me the hardest is that I didn’t get any of my ‘lasts.’ 

We all left on the Friday of spring break happy to get a week off from school, but no one knew it would be our last day of high school ever. No one knew we wouldn’t be able to go visit the teachers that meant the most to us and thank them for their influence on our lives. No one knew we wouldn’t be able to rub our last day of high school into all the underclassmen’s faces. No one knew we wouldn’t have the satisfaction of walking out of the school doors as a student for the last time. No one knew we wouldn’t have our last fine arts and sports banquets or our senior prom. These things are a big deal to a kid that hasn’t really done anything except go to school for 13 years. 

Not having these ‘lasts’ has deprived me of a sense of closure. Finishing senior year and graduating high school is a huge milestone in a person’s life, and we’re losing that feeling. Coronavirus has turned the entire world upside down, and for us young adults trying to get a grasp on our life and our future, this has seriously unhinged everything we normally count on to be the same. 

So, please stop berating teenagers for complaining about their senior year and not being able to see their friends. Look out for each other and support each other. Everyone is experiencing the effects of this pandemic in a different way, so don’t discount other people’s experiences. This is a really trying time for everyone, and a little bit of kindness (and a graduation present) can go a long way.