Made to feel special while graduating amid a pandemic

Lawrence Woodmere Academy has never failed to amaze me in the face of obstacles. During these difficult times, our school community has come together in the most beautiful way. The administration and teachers managed to continue teaching with a set schedule of classes over Google Meets or really just a large Facetime call.

Not only did they continue to enlighten us and expand our minds with textbook knowledge but also ensured we were doing OK and were being both physically and mentally active. As seniors, it was disheartening and abrupt for our four years of high school to end during a global pandemic, but with the help of our beloved teachers, it felt closer to normalcy than I could have ever imagined. 

When the coronavirus crisis shut down the school in the very beginning, no one anticipated that we would not be back in the building for the rest of the year. We may have missed out on the end of the year events like prom, but LWA managed to make the seniors feel special in regard to graduation. As I was sitting in my house looking at the ceiling, as we all have been doing, school administration and a few teachers secretly planned a Google Meet with my parents and soon enough I was on the phone with them. Multiple faces appeared discussing my accomplishments and then they said that I would be the class of 2020’s valedictorian. 

With such an honor, numerous emotions flooded through my body. I wondered what being a virtual valedictorian would look like. I wondered what graduation would look like. A few days later Headmaster Brian O’Connell and Mary Barton came zooming into my driveway blasting Katy Perry’s “Roar” (LWA’s nickname is Tigers). They brought a sign that read “Graduate of Lawrence Woodmere,” a tassel, a cap, a huge banner with my picture, and did the same for every member of the graduating class. This positive energy and light brought so much happiness into our lives at such an uncertain time. It made us feel like we really were graduating.

The surprises continued as the class of 2020 was told that we would have a “drive-in graduation” meaning that it would be pre-recorded and played on a large projector on our field, and the sound would blast through your car through a radio station.

While sitting on my bed recording my valedictorian speech was not expected, it felt right. Our drive-in graduation was the most amazing way to close out this crazy year with our friends and family safely. Part of me wishes more classes could feel the love that was felt as we all watched in harmony although separated.

There is no other class better equipped to take on these global issues than the class of 2020. Not only are we graduating amid a global pandemic, but we have also endured so much up until this point. We were the kids born into a world after 9/11. We have never known an airport without security — I cannot even begin to fathom what that might have looked like. We grew up in an economic recession in 2008. We went to elementary, middle and high school when school shootings became the norm.

But we spoke up, and marched. Whether it had been in New York City or in Washington D.C., we managed to show up to be bigger than ourselves. That is more than most leading our country can proudly say they do. We went to women’s marches to fight for equality and we took part in climate change strikes, claiming that as “the seas rise, so will we.” Never did we have a global issue go unnoticed and never will we. We are the kids who will change the world. 

Congratulations to all the graduates. Whether it be high school or not, you are a part of something truly special.