With the prospect of returning to in-person school for the 19-20 school year now gone, many students, particularly seniors, are thinking about what this loss of in person school really means for them. One senior on the Paper Tiger staff, on behalf of all our writers, reflects on what this unexpected change has meant for her:
When talking to a friend on FaceTime about the coronavirus school closure, she raised the scary supposition that we may never again be together on campus as high schoolers. Since then, it has been confirmed that LWHS will continue distance learning for the remainder of the academic year. For Lick seniors, the unexpected move to distance learning has profoundly changed the spring semester of refection and goodbyes.
I reassured my friend that although we will not return to in-person learning, we will keep in touch and I would see her often. She responded that she understood. “But we’ll never eat apples together again at 1:55” she said. “We’ll never get to talk in the caf during the break.”
I’ve had my last day of high school and I didn’t even know it. And while I miss classes and sports games and handing out the Paper Tiger at Lick’s front doors (this especially), I think it is moments like the 1:55 pm break I miss the most.
When thinking about writing a coronavirus-related editorial, I thought about crafting everything from an impassioned plea for an in-person graduation to talking about homelessness services and the economy. I felt I would just be recycling other people’s thoughts. We all understand that right now things are very, very bad. People are truly sufering—I know that many, like me, are trying to reconcile their personal disappointments with the immense sense of disparity and loss in our communities and our world.
There’s nothing to write that is so novel or different or inspiring; I’m stuck in my bedroom just like everyone else. But to the non-Senior LWHS students, here’s what I have to say: when you go back to school, relish the snack breaks. Don’t check your phone at 1:55. Give your friend a hug for no reason. Maybe spend one tutorial sitting on the grass.
I always thought I was good at living in the moment. Yet I realize I had been waiting for milestones to celebrate my high school experience, to take a step back and realize how by this school and this community is uniquely important to me. I urge you not to wait until college acceptances to tell your friends you’re proud of them or until graduation to express gratitude to your teachers and classmates.
And while I still have some that some of the goodbye traditions may still be in store for us, I am just trying to be grateful for what did get to happen. I was excited for prom because I really love my friends, excited for grad night because I am inspired by my peers. I see now that all of our rituals for goodbyes are not made special because of the funny gown or the fancy theatre. They are special because of everything that comes before them.
