By: Shelby Kuzminski

One phrase we hear considerably while growing up is “don’t take things for granted,” but when does this phrase truly come in to play? This phrase came true for me this year when the pandemic stuck us in March. I never would have thought my senior year would end so abruptly. I never would have thought that Friday, March 13 would be the last day of high school.

As a senior in high school, there are so many things to look forward to. Personally, for me, it is playing softball, graduation, the senior class trip, and prom. Sadly, everything is cancelled, and now everything I am looking forward to has been taken away. Since I am a senior, this is my last year to play softball. My last chances to hit homeruns, catch, and make more memories with my softball family. I was looking forward to senior recognition, where I would play and walk across my home field one more time. Although I am thankful for the time I have had, I will miss my teammates and the game. Now that spring sports are cancelled, what does that mean for the other school events?

Once we found out that school is cancelled for the remainder of the school year, many students were excited to hear this news, but we wondered, what about the seniors who will not be returning to high school? What exactly happens next? Is there still going to be graduation, prom, or the senior trip? How this affect my grades? These questions raced through my mind when I heard the news. But all and all, this means my senior year has officially ended. But what I, and most likely all the other seniors, wanted to know is what happens next? What does this mean for the graduating class of 2020?

Eventually, some questions were finally answered. Prom, graduation, and the class trip are all to be cancelled. This truly upset me. Every other class got these events, so why could we not postpone everything to a later date? What is even more upsetting is there is to be no graduation ceremony. Graduation for me is to have my family there to watch me walk across the stage and celebrate all my accomplishments and hard work. The class of 2020 has certainly gotten the short end of the stick. Students and parents sent in emails with complaints and outrage in response to there being no graduation, and that is when the school district decided to hold a virtual graduation. Although it was not a traditional graduation, students still got the opportunity to walk across the stage and receive a diploma. Each student had to sign up a time slot, so it kept with the social distancing guidelines. I went on Wednesday, May 12, 2020. The gym was empty with exceptions of a few teachers, Mrs.Alm, camera men, and both of my parents. I am glad that at least my parents got the opportunity to watch me “graduate.” Even with early graduation, students aren’t fully considered alumni until June 5 and then will officially receive their diplomas.

There are still burning questions that keeps playing over and over in my mind. What happens now? What will my future look like now? Will the world ever be the same or will everyone still have to wear masks, gloves, and stay in quarantine the rest of our lives? Honestly, I cannot answer these questions because every time I would come close to a possible answer something else would get in the way. Unlike other classmates of mine, I will not be attending a college. Instead, I am enlisting in the United States Coast Guard. But, with COVID-19, everything is temporarily closed until further notice, so what happens? For now, I plan to get a job and patiently wait until I can leave. I am thankful for my time at Eisenhower, and I will deeply miss my time in school.

The COVID-19 crisis has certainly flipped the entire world upside down. Schools, factories, and small local businesses are all closed until it is deemed to be “safe” again. Everyone is being affected differently and life will never be the same.