As I look to the future, and you may as well, I share my reflections about graduating high school during the pandemic and ideas you can use to recreate some of those missed experiences.
Graduating high school during the pandemic will stay with us for our entire lives, but we have to keep looking towards the future. It’s been over a year since I received my diploma and high school officially came to an end. Yet, the wound of loss still stings from time to time.
Maybe I am bitter about missing out on a time that many claim to be the best part of high school. Maybe I wonder more than I should about what my life would’ve been like if I hadn’t graduated during the pandemic.
The thing is, you can sit and wonder, or you can reflect and actively move forward.
This post is about graduating high school during the pandemic.
My Reflections
The loss of the class of 2020’s senior year brought some good: free donuts. The car ride to Krispy Kreme was terrifying, but also exhilarating. Of course, I wasn’t going to pass up on free donuts. Although I wasn’t the greatest GPS navigator, I braved myself for a thirty-minute ride to a place I’d never been to before.
I barely left my house for months, trying my best to keep myself and my family safe. However, there comes a time when enough is enough. I might have missed out on the end of high school, but I definitely wasn’t missing out on these donuts.
The experience shouldn’t have been as comforting as it was. I just didn’t expect to see as many seniors as I did, all trying to make the best of our current circumstances. At least that’s what it looked like to me.
I had gone months with this false belief that life was at a standstill, forcing me to be upset over something largely out of my control. I realized I was not in an “ending” phase of my life. Instead, life had presented me with an alternate beginning, I simply needed the right perspective to move forward in this new place.
The English poet, Lord Byron, once wrote that “there is pleasure in the pathless woods”. This little adventure reminded me of this feeling of pleasure for the unknown because it gave me a hint at what the future holds and a glimpse back to a time of what was. You only get so many chances, free donuts don’t come by every day, so there isn’t enough time to overthink the present moment. A moment is there one second and gone forever by the next, just like that.
That’s what happened to me on March 12, 2020, and I had no idea. High school would end abruptly on that day. No proper finale or sincere goodbye. The curtain closed right before I could experience possibly the best part of high school.
I’m not upset because I have regrets, I’m upset because I wanted to make more memories. I’m upset because those memories were right around the corner and I was so close. So close to congratulations and reminiscing. So close to redemption, or even so close to deprivation. Whatever it was, I was close to something… something I’ll never exactly know what.
“There is pleasure in the pathless woods.”
-Lord Byron
Moving Forward
It’s crazy how true it is to get so caught up in the present moment that you forget that nothing lasts forever. All things come to an end, it’s inevitable. I don’t have any regrets about these last couple of years because there are no regrets to be had in life. Every experience is a lesson, good or bad. It’s important to take life in because it moves fast. It can flash before your eyes if you don’t pay enough attention. So moving forward, I just want to make sure to treasure everything I’m grateful for, even if that simply means being alive.
And don’t wait! Perhaps the only regret I have is waiting for the end of my senior year to live freely. In truth, I could’ve done that at any point. Life is not guaranteed, why wait?
The best time for new beginnings is right now, there is no need to wait. This kind of mindset became my post-graduation memento as I navigate this alternate beginning life has thrust upon me.
The end of high school is a time I will never get back. I was trying to squeeze my entire high school experience into the last months of it, but life never goes as planned. So in a sense, I lost. I lost time, sweet memories, youth, and so much more I simply can’t explain. However, I’m choosing not to see my present circumstances in this way.
My new perspective is calling for me to look toward a distant unknown. The past cannot be changed, the future is yet in our power. Though the present may seem grim, it’s important to remember that good things are always ahead. Perhaps even greater things.
Experiences to Recreate
Since we can’t change the past, we can only do with what we have now. Here are some senior activities/events that you can use for inspiration to recreate those experiences you might’ve missed out on. You could also do these for fun, even if you didn’t graduate during the pandemic.
Good things behind, Greater things ahead.
1) Throw a Fake Prom
Prom is THAT event in high school that really ties the whole high school experience together. Okay, maybe I’m being a little dramatic, but you see it in a bunch of movies and TV shows that take place in high school. There’s always a school dance or prom at the end of the year.
The basics of what you’ll need: a location, some friends, and music. You can throw a fake prom almost anywhere. I think the easiest place would probably be your backyard! To play the music, you can use speakers and create a playlist by taking song requests. And you could have your friends bring their own plus ones. Go all out with the decorations if you want and choose a theme! The 80s? Enchanted Forest?? Masquerade Ball???
2) Senior Scavenger Hunt
For this, you’ll need to create a list of dares. The harder the dare, the more points a team gets, and vice versa. The teams can be as small or big as you want, depending on how many people are participating.
Be sure to have every dare videotaped for proof. You could even have some kind of prize at the end for whichever team wins.
3) Senior Trip
Every school has a different trip planned for the senior class. Some schools might do a camping trip while other schools might host a trip to Disney.
Let’s be real, the trips our schools have in mind for us aren’t that exciting on their own. They’re mainly exciting because of the company you have, and the memories you make with your friends.
So now is the time to plan a trip and go!
Looking Towards the Future
Honestly, the more time that passes since graduating high school, the more I feel as though the problems that plagued me don’t carry as much weight now. I suppose it’s true that time can heal all wounds. Or maybe time simply teaches us to forget, to let go…
Of course, there will always be things we wish we could have experienced or things we wish to change. Whatever it is for you, maybe it’s for the best. We can only live life in one direction so don’t go against that current. Instead, move forward with the ever-changing tides as that is where peace lies.
Missing out in the past shouldn’t stop you from living deliberately right now. So what are you waiting for?
This post was about graduating high school during the pandemic.
