2020, the year that felt like a bad dream
On march 13, I went to school for the last time without knowing. It felt like a normal day, we all knew we were going on a short spring break but not one person actually thought we would never go back.
It started in January, the rumors of the “Coronavirus” but no one took it seriously. No one thought that what happened to us would happen. I was finishing up my senior year, about to enjoy the best last three months of high school, the parties, senior games, school assemblies, senior trips, graduation, spring sports season for high school and club, but little did I or anyone know we wouldn’t get anything.
I’m not here for pity, but to share my story from a different point of view as most. Shortly after our “2 week spring break” started, it became a quarantine. I was hopeful that we would return back to school to be able to enjoy all of the activities that the past graduating classes had gotten to enjoy the last 3 months of high school. It turned into an online school, but it was messy. Classes slowly turned to canvas and it went downhill. The school faculty tried their best to ensure the rest of the school year could be full of learning and fun, but it was the opposite.
The week before graduation comes around and i’m really bummed. They had us send in a photo and a video of ourselves moving the tassel from one side to the other side of the cap. About a day or two later, I was with my boyfriend and we decided to go get tested for Covid-19 because why not! Sadly, it turned on me very quick. I was at my graduation lunch with my whole moms side of the family when my test result came back positive. I told my mom and the whole party and guests were gone within 10 minutes.
I got home and had to speak with a healthcare worker on the phone. They had me list off everyone I had been in contact with in the last 7 days. They called all of those people to let them know. I had told only a few of my close friends it was me, and to keep it on the down low and to not tell anyone. Within 2 days, everyone in my high school and the 3 surrounding high schools knew I had covid. I was really sad and angry with my friends that they would spread the news but I just distanced my self from all of them from then on.
I learned that month who my real friends and fake friends were. It was really hard to have to go through 3 days before graduation because at the put together senior sleepover that I obviously wasn’t at, my friends attended and told everyone. I had notified the school board and my teachers and had a discussion about me being able to attend the drive thru graduation.
The school had set up a really big stage with tables of diplomas and spaced out places to take pictures where students would stay in their cars and stand out their sun roofs, then when it was their turn they would get out of their car, walk across the stage, shake the principals hand, and receive their diploma. They said that I could attend but communication was rocky so I was still unsure of what I could and couldn’t do.
The day came, I hadn’t talked to anyone from school or my close friends. They were all discussing in the group chat what to wear, when to take pictures, and basically rubbing it in my face that I couldn’t go. There were only a few that texted me separately and apologized for what I had to go through. Graduation was going through first letter of last name and mine is H so I would have been in the middle of it all.
My mom and I drove to my school where graduation was going on, we were both wearing masks in the car, but when I got there it was nothing like I had ever seen before. The energy was electric, the people lined up on the sidewalk to congratulate the graduates, the school colors everywhere, the posters, the banners, the decorations, it was amazing. I got really emotional driving past because all the memories of high school were flooding back into my head, and all the memories I had made there. I was most emotional about the fact that the very end just got taken away from me and there was nothing anyone could do.
The faculty and parents had done an amazing job of putting it together and they agreed that I could go with the last of the people. I actually ended up being the very last person in line, with the police car behind me shutting it off. The energy was still there, there were a lot of people, and as I was standing out the sun roof in my moms car, I started to see my teachers from senior year lined up on the side walk. I instantly was really emotional as they were cheering me on as I drove past. I got about 20 feet from the stage where I was the last graduate to walk across the stage. I unfortunately couldn’t get out of my car, so my principal walked down and handed my diploma to me. The amount of people cheering me on and the love I felt at that moment was very intense. My heart was breaking at the same time and it was a memory I will never forget.
Once I had gotten my diploma, my mom and I had parked in the parking lot where there were a lot of graduates still taking pictures and celebrating with their families. I stayed away and waited for my dad and sister to get there. I was able to get pictures in front of the school and I even saw some of my “friends” staring at me from the distance. Boy were they shocked to see me. I eventually headed home with a heart full of heartbreak and love. It was a very hard way to end high school but it was time to look forward to bigger and better things.
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