Dear Class of 2020,

You had plans. Many plans. And you’re most likely feeling angry and upset that those plans are canceled. We get it. We’ll be real with you, this pandemic quarantine is shocking and distressing. Your senior year is on lockdown and the future feels incredibly unknown. 

The sports you trained for, the school play you were excited to star in, the spring concert, prom, graduation, the list goes on. Every single milestone you’ve been excited to cherish - cancelled. We’d be angry too. We’d be sad. You’re allowed to be upset. Get it out. Scream. Get in the car and sing to the saddest song. Go for a long run. Punch your pillow. Mourn this loss. Grief can take a while. Take your time and don’t be too hard on yourself. Everything you’re feeling is valid. Let yourself feel all of it. You need to feel it to get through it. 

School was a safe place where you could connect with your friends. It was where you had teachers who checked up on you, a community that surrounded and protected you (whether you liked it or not). Now, for some of you, it may feel like you’ve been thrown into the real world too soon. Maybe the traditions that have been cancelled don’t really matter to you, the worst of this is losing your part time job or your family struggling to make ends meet. This is a tragic time, and our losses and feelings have different levels of depth. The stress is real, and we feel for you. 

But, despite it all, there may be something that you will gain from this experience that no one else will. 

You will persevere, no doubt, and what you create and how you survive will be completely new. You will gain resiliency. You will build a community of people together who are feeling what you’re feeling and have found ways to see a positive, new view. We already see it happening; from your WHS Student Broadcasts to the Class of 2020 instagram account highlighting Seniors, your creativity and resiliency is already lighting up the world.

You can do things that will help change the world, big or small. You can do simple things like grocery shop for your elderly neighbor. You can get creative, and create a weekly senior video chat or make that piece of art you’ve been ready to create. You can make long-term decisions, like deciding this event has really pushed you to pursue becoming a doctor or nurse, or to major in biology. You can write all of your thoughts and feelings down since it might be hard to process everything right now, so that you can read it later on in life to look back. You can check in with a friend to make sure they have lunch to eat. You can create cards to send them to family members who live alone. You can ask your parents to teach you about budgeting, about gardening, about car maintenance, about cooking your nonna’s famous dish. You can read those books you really wanted to read. You can finally become Tik-Tok famous. You can plan a post-pandemic prom and graduation ceremony (six months won’t make a difference). You can make post-pandemic plans, a bucket list of everything you’ve ever wanted to do. You can simply get outside everyday and watch the flowers bloom; it’s a slow Spring after all.

Whatever you decide to do with your time, make sure to take care of yourself, center yourself, and find moments of laughter and happiness. You'll end up foraging the path that feels right for you and your community. You'll be leaders again, you'll build friendships again and you'll create a future that we would have never imagined. While you do that, we're here for you, to listen and to support you, and to cheer you on. 

We believe in you, Class of 2020.  We don't have all of the answers for you and may never will. So, we’re also excited to learn from you. You are the future, after all. 

Alumni, can you share some words of encouragement for the Senior class of 2020? Share them in the comments below.