Dear Class of 2020,

For the past 13 years, we have pictured this exact moment. Either based on our imagination or created by movie scenes, we have pictured our senior year to be the best year of our lives.

We have watched previous seniors experience their last homecoming, Mini-Thon, and prom. We have witnessed the class before us wear their college shirts to school and class night and seen them experience their own Reflections ceremony and Commencement, and we may not get any of that. We have built up in our minds how our last semester of high school would look, and I don’t think any of us expected this.

It’s important to note that the Coronavirus is very important and can’t be ignored. People are isolated, sick, and dying. However, it is important for us to be upset. We have every right to be angry and frustrated. It’s okay to be selfish during these times to really think about how this pandemic is affecting us. As of now, our future at North Penn is unclear. Online classes are starting up and we are instructed to stay home until at least April 6th.

This is not ideal. It’s not what anyone wants. It sucks. We are all filled with sadness and anxiety and anger. Why us? Why now? This is an important time in our lives and it gets taken away. Everything that we have been planning and looking forward to is in the hands of a pandemic, and it’s scary.

However, there are many blessings in disguise with the time we are in. You never really appreciate what you have until it is taken away from you. My priorities have shifted. I feel a much greater appreciation for time. Time with friends, family, classmates, and my time at North Penn. 

The other day I decided to sit in my parking space at school and just reflect. And I’m not going to lie, a lot of the time I spent there I had tears rolling down my face as the moms walking around the school looked at me through my car windshield. Even though our future is not decided yet, it still doesn’t feel real that March 13th could’ve been our last day of school. As tears rolled down my cheeks, I felt every emotion possible : anger, sadness, confusion. But I also started to reflect on my time that I had at North Penn. I’m grateful for every second I’ve had in that big building in front of me, a building that once looked so scary and intimidating but actually turned into my home. Not every day was pretty, but every moment counted. North Penn has given me my best friends, those I’ve considered family over the years, and memories I’ll hold onto forever and tell my kids about someday. I reflected on how much I’ve grown into who I am since sophomore year, and replayed my favorite memories with my friends in my head. Another word comes to my mind when I think of my time at North Penn: lucky.

I then started to write down the things that I  will never take for granted again and some of them include: laughing with my friends in class, the crowded hallways, annoying Knight Time meetings, being in school. This is a scary time and we don’t know what the next day or week entails. But it is a good time to hold on to the things we love and to reflect on our memories.

Coronavirus may take our Prom and maybe even our graduation, but it can’t take away the 13 years we have been together. The 13 years that are filled with laughter, friendships, memories, and moments that will live beyond us. As long as we hold those moments close to us during these times, we will be okay. 

We are scared, but we are also strong. As it seems like Coronavirus is taking away my senior year, it will never take away the memories and the people North Penn has given me, and for that I am lucky.