This blog post has been one in the making for quite some time now (a couple of weeks that is). During the COVID-19 global pandemic, there aren’t many who remain unaffected by the virus but I wanted to take a moment to recognize the class of 2020 seniors.

As a freshman in high school, anticipating your senior year starts from the first day you walk the halls. Countless tests, scholarship applications, college acceptances, and more- the last few months of senior year should be the most impactful memories made throughout the many years of grade school. A reward for completing twelve years of formal schooling, a final chance to escape the realities of adulthood and enjoy the company of classmates who will soon scatter in many directions as they journey new lives. Prom, grad bash, senior trips, sporting events, graduation parties, prom, awards ceremonies- all of the momentous occasions that are not only eagerly anticipated but so rightfully earned.

I can’t help but feel disappointment and heart ache for the class of 2020 as they have been abruptly robbed of so many experiences. Rather than enjoying their final months of youth and adolescence, they have been thrown into adulthood with little warning. Halls stand empty, prom dresses hang unworn, caps and gowns awaiting the day they will serve a purpose.

My prayer is that this sickness will soon pass and that as health and restoration returns to our community, our state, this nation, and our planet, we find a way to give some piece of their senior year back to them. I pray and hope that they will get to see their peers off into the real world with proper celebration and laughter. I pray they get the chance to feel the satisfaction and joy that comes along with turning their tassels and tossing their caps into the air. After all, being a senior is a right of passage, a stamp in time many of us never forget.