2 minute read
Mourning the Loss of Your Senior Year
by Macayla Craymer, Grand haven High School
Sudden, doesn’t even begin to describe the unexpected punch to the face every senior felt when told school would shut down. I was dumbfounded. I didn’t understand how rumors and whispers about a virus miles away could cause a huge impact so close to home. For weeks it was nothing more than a joke, hoping to have some time off of school. I was hopeful at the start, or maybe naive that after the three-week lockdown and spring break, I would be back, carrying out the rest of my senior year typically, besides the few hiccups. Boy, I am wrong.
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My optimism at the beginning was stacked up, like, Jenga blocks, and with each cancellation and postponement, a brick was taken until my precious senior year came crashing down. I was utterly devastated. After years of overcoming required classes, exams, a fifteen-page paper, time writings, AP classes; every senior and I are entitled to those last few, but blissful months to reflect and reward ourselves on our achievements. Just like every senior before us.
Macayla Craymer, Grand Haven High School
Photo by Captured by Sherry Ann, Grand Haven, MI
Macayla Craymer, Grand Haven High School
Photo by Captured by Sherry Ann, Grand Haven, MI
However, with disaster quickly spreading across the globe, it seems unfair to be upset over prom, sports games, and my graduation ceremony when countless people and loved ones are being impaired. For the first several weeks, I was engulfed in the stages of grief, from denial to anger, till I finally settled in depression, to the point of not wanting to do my online assignments, text any of my friends. I slipped into the mood, that if I didn’t accept it, and continue to have hope, school would be up and running in a few weeks. The sad truth was, there was nothing school, my parents, my friends, or I could do to stop reality. No one, especially me, could ever imagine our last leg of the marathon, that high school is, to be canceled due to a world-world outbreak, although a part of me finds comfort that all the seniors are in this together.
Macayla Craymer
Photo by Captured by Sherry Ann, Grand Haven, MI
Macayla Craymer, Grand Haven High School
Photo by Captured by Sherry Ann, Grand Haven, MI
Macayla Craymer, Grand Haven High School
Photo by Captured by Sherry Ann, Grand Haven, MI
Note from the Editor:
While the country battles an unfamiliar disease, the class of 2020 unites and preserves. While many of you are sad and the situation is heart breaking to say the least, your overall positive outlook on health and family, and your unrivaled determination to move forward and set your eyes on the future is remarkable. The love and support I see from the community is uplifting. From yard signs from the school principal, to parades for classmates on birthdays, I have seen your community pull together to keep spirits high.
Class of 2020, take a moment to mourn the loss of your Senior Year, but always remember to embrace the relationships you have, reflect on old memories and make new ones, and list out your social priorities so that when limits are lifted, you can make sure to see your friends, teachers and classmates before your destiny pulls you forward. You will overcome this, and you are making history.
