The opinions, viewpoints, and beliefs expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the opinions, viewpoints, or beliefs of the Titan Times newspaper, Tuscarora High School or Frederick County Public Schools.

Dear Seniors,

We have lived our whole lives expecting our senior year to be like everyone else’s. We have been talking about walking the stage for so long and have been preparing for prom for months! We drove out of the student parking lot for the last time and didn’t even know it. Even the little things like hearing our teachers telling us “bye” at the bell and being asked “do you have an agenda?” are all things we expected to hear until June. Now we just see notifications on our phones that our teachers have more work for us. The truth is that this virus isn’t going away soon and walking the stage at graduation is a slim to none chance. The truth hurts sometimes, but that’s just life.

We can choose to be remembered as the class that lost their senior year and live in an eternal pity party or we can be remembered as the class with the best ending. Change isn’t always bad! We may not be able to see eachother again or thank our teachers who have known us for years, but we can make sure we are never forgotten. We will forever remember this year and so will everyone else, but people will envy how we took a horrible situation and made the best out of it, if we pick our heads up. Life will always throw curve balls at us, some bigger than others. This shows that nothing in life is promised and we should never expect it to be a certain way. If you learn how to deal with something big, the small issues you come across won’t seem so disappointing. 

A yard sign and fake prom pictures do not make up for everything we lost, but there are so many people willing to listen to ideas we have. There are also facebook groups and instagram pages dedicated to honoring us! People want to make it better for us, there are ways to “adopt a senior” and plenty of parents that want to see their kids enjoying their last months of highschool. If you have an idea of what to do during this time, don’t be afraid to pitch it to someone. The class of 2020 is not full of kids who sit back and watch, we speak up and make a change. Coronavirus cannot take away our senior year if we don’t let it! 

With all this being said, pick your head, we are going to be okay! Graduation and prom would’ve only been a couple of hours. Compared to our whole entire lives, that is nothing. We are destined for far greater things. Some may view this loss as tragic, but what’s more tragic than losing your senior year to a pandemic? Letting it bring you down when you have so much ahead of you! When you put this all into perspective, it’s really not as big as it seems. The class of 2020 will not let this stop us and we will not be forgotten!

Sincerely

Cassidy Farmer (fellow 2020 grad)