Opinion: Local students robbed of their commencement ceremony
Forever more the class of 2020 will go down in history as the class that was deprived of its graduation. Be it kindergarten, middle or high school, and even college commencement exercises have been cancelled by COVID-19.
The group I feel the worst for are high school seniors. The 12th grade is typically a time of great exploration. Most of the students are also closing in on their 18th birthday.
In addition, they lost their last formal dance, the last childhood athletic season and a time to say goodbye to your classmates who have traveled the path to adulthood, with many of them, since kindergarten.
Following high school graduation many lose track of their friends as each one explores the rest of their lives. They will find that they can stay in touch through social media, but as we’ve learned, a virtual companion is only slightly better than no companions at all.
To the class of 2020, you are experiencing the hard lesson that life is not fair. Study on this, all you can do at this point is buck-up and get over it. People all around you are being deprived the opportunity to celebrate triumphs and tragedies and you aren’t in this alone. Don’t be the football player or prom queen who never moves on from high school.
Spring weddings have been postponed, altered or scaled back to include only immediate family. Bridal and bachelor’s parties have been cancelled or held through an internet site.
Everyone is going to remember the year 2020 for its challenges and its restrictions. It is also going to be remembered as the year too many people lost their livelihoods and, with it, a sense of pride and purpose.
We are into 10-plus weeks of quarantine and shelter in place. We should all have learned the lesson of patience and perseverance by now. I haven’t but we all should.
Numerous parts of this pandemic are remarkable and the first line of defense is proving to be operated by people of character. Our medical personnel are still going to work, knowing that the people they treat may be infected. Senior citizens have been particularly hard hit by this awful situation where the lack of human contact has intensified.
The politicians across both sides of the aisle are using the COVID-19 pandemic as a means to enrich their lives, few are making decisions to benefit their constituents.”
No matter what the President of the United States says or does, he is chastised for being too bold, too timid, or too fast to act, the list of POTUS bashing knows no end.
Attention please: Everyone should know that Madam Nancy Pat is but two heart beats away from being POTUS, right? She tries to take down Trump, does away with VP Pence and her scrawny behind is sitting in the big chair. If that doesn’t strike fear in the heart of every American patriot it really should. She cares no more for the peasants that serve her than Marie Antoinette did (paraphrasing) when she said, “Let them eat overpriced gourmet ice cream!”
If stuffing her face with ice cream came from an adviser it is a symptom of really poor judgment among her handlers. And these are the people who play a large part in her coup d’etat.
Even her metaphor is poorly crafted, even so, it is true. Be alert because the world needs more “Lerts!”
Back to the class of 2020 ... missing graduation is a major disappointment but remember “What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger. Get on with your life and learn the lessons this teaches.
Take the lemons and make lemonade. Hopefully the shelter in place dictate may soon be lifted. When that happens, enjoy the freedoms that have been denied. Live and let live. Love thy neighbor.
Don’t distain others just because they sin differently than you. Keep the good neighbor relationship strong and look out for one another. History has showed us how the race with superior weaponry and technology is usually the victor.
We can discuss this after we are visited by beings from another planet, then we can talk about which race is superior.
For now, lets us all pull together to make the survival of COVID-19 as smooth a process as possible.
Long days and pleasant nights, have a great weekend.
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Readers may contact Tami Jo Nix by emailing tamijonix@gmail.com or following @TamiJoNix on Twitter.
