An Open Letter to the Class of 2020:

To the Class of 2020,

         You did it! Probably not in the way you hoped though. Whether you are an 8th grader, a high school senior, or even a college senior, your last year did not end as expected. Like most, you probably walked into your last year with severe senioritis and were so ready to graduate and move on with your life. But, little did you realize that would be cut from you. Now, you long to be back in the classroom, see your friends every day, and even do things that only seniors can do. 

         You now come to realize that you are not ready. At a young age, we are all filled with uncertainty… even as high school seniors and college seniors. You are probably lost and confused. You have no idea if you can even start the next chapter of your life. Your next chapter may have come sooner than expected. You did not have the time to mentally prepare going to a new school so quick, let alone leave your old school so early. Your life is not only changing school wise, but is changing as you know it. You probably never got the closure you needed and probably never will. You probably lost out on your graduation, your prom, and even your school trip. We all lost the feeling of walking out of our last final or test with a sign of relief. If you are in college, you lose out on showing off that degree and now have to start preparing for the next step in your life earlier than expected.

         One thing I will tell you: it is not the end of the world. No matter how much you feel it is. Be thankful if you are healthy and have a roof over your head right now. Be thankful for the friends you made, the teachers you learned from, and the memories you will never forget. It is not a reason to cry, but more the reason to celebrate. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad for crying. You do have every reason to be upset. But, we can all take comfort in knowing that we are not alone.

         Here’s my advice: when this is all over, gather some of your friends. Make your own graduations, proms, and random adventures. Make scrapbooks of memories, even write down the best times you had together. If you went away to college, gather your friends, go drive to see them, make new memories to replace the ones that were supposed to happen (after this is all over of course).

         Little do we know this thing called the coronavirus is preparing us for the rest of our lives. Whether you are 14 or 22, this virus is showing you how to prepare for heartbreak. It is showing you how to be mature, even when you can’t be mature in a situation. It is showing you how to look on the bright side of a terrible situation. In a way, this allows us to get to know our friends better than we probably could have ever did in school. It is a story we can tell our children one day. It is a story you can write in the future. 

We will get through this. The hard times are what make us. They not only make us stronger, but they make us better. They prepare us for the next journey, and the journey that will come after that. This is not the end. It is just the beginning friends….

Always remember:

“When everything seems to go wrong, take a minute to remind yourself of all the things going right.”

That’s the tea

xoxo

Jo 💗