Crenshaw Class of 2020: Growing through adversity

This year has been crazy for everyone; especially for the Class of 2020. We have gotten many traditions taken away from our senior year, but luckily, my school gave some of it back to us. I feel sad hearing that seniors from other schools are not getting anything and they may have to do graduation in June or July. The Class of 2020 has faced so many hardships that no other class has faced.

My senior class has had to transition from in-person classes to online to finish their high school experience. We missed out of having prom, Grad Bash and a Senior Prank. The seniors from the previous years were able to do this, but sadly we could not. We all had to come together and figure out a way to make our senior year special. My school figured out a really cool way to have a graduation that I have never heard before. We parked on the grass and got our diplomas one-by-one in the parking lot. I am so happy that I could have an actual graduation when not many schools are having graduations. 

Every school is doing something different for their senior classes. This one school in Seattle is doing their prom on Club Penguin. Schools have come up with an idea to do graduation on Zoom or even Houseparty, an app where you can FaceTime multiple people at once. Most schools are having graduation and prom in June and July. Some students are excited about this, but some students just want their senior year to be over with and not be dragged out. Luckily, I do not have to face this because my school had their graduation at the time originally scheduled way back in January 2020. 

Many people feel horrible the Class of 2020 haven’t received the real senior experience so much so that celebrities have pitched in to help them. A big example is John Krasinski. He hosted a virtual prom that featured Rainn Wilson, Chance the Rapper, Billie Eilish and The Jonas Brothers. He said he did this because he felt so bad that the Class of 2020 had to leave school without having any of the fun activities and he wanted us to have a real senior experience. Another example is that there is a podcast with celebrities doing commencement speeches. Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey and even Barack Obama have made speeches for the Class of 2020. 

Senior classes from all over the country have come together through social media. The most popular app they are using is TikTok. People have been creating short clips about their experiences at their school and asked what other students are facing. Some clips have been funny, sad or just relatable. A lot of people created group chats with seniors from other schools talking about what they are facing.

The Class of 2020 has definitely faced hardships, but we are getting through it. With the help from celebrities, school faculty and various websites, the senior class was able to have a somewhat normal experience. I will never forget my senior year, and I hope the Class of 2021 will have an amazing year filled with fun activities and an amazing graduation. No matter what, we will have grown through this experience.