For the 2020 graduating class, some harsh realities are settling in. Spring sports are canceled. There won’t be any 12th grade celebrations to Lagoon or dancing at prom. There may not even be a graduation ceremony — you know, where the principal tries to make everyone laugh and your bum hurts from sitting down for so long until it’s your time to walk. Then you take selfies with your friends in your matching gowns and you move your tassels from right to left. I know you’ve been looking forward to that day.
Things are weird right now, for all of us. But missing the final months of your decade-plus school story has got to sting.
To the 2020 graduation class — I’m sorry. This isn’t the send-off you’ve been planning for or dreaming of.
Despite the cancellations and current wave of craziness, know that we are proud of you. You’ve accomplished something special. We may not be gathering in a large auditorium in May or June, but please throw a quarantine-safe celebration for yourself. Eat cake. Toss confetti. Walk across your living room and throw a hat in the air. This is your moment! Send out those graduation announcements. We’ll send back money. You’ve earned it.
Come this fall, your life will continue with high school behind you. I hope you can find joy and learn unique lessons in this unexpected season of graduating during the COVID-19 outbreak. Life, in some ways, is truly just beginning.
Tommy Johnson
Orem