2020
Sender
Justin Cheemanlall
Posted On
2024-10-11
Last Updated 2024-10-11
Last Updated 2024-10-11
Year
2020
Memoir
I'm sure most who graduated from high school in 2020 shared the same experience I had, at least something very close to it otherwise. Midway through March, one of the last weeks before quarantine started, classes were still in person, and Newtown gave us students a lengthy notice to help inform everyone about the possibility of a widespread pandemic. In this letter that was multiple pages long, one of the first sentences referred to the soon to become elusive threat as the “novel coronavirus”. It’s sobering to still clearly remember reading that word for the first time, seeing how quickly things changed from that “novel” status. For a decently short period, schools were closed with nothing to do as they would try to figure out the best possible steps to take moving forward. An announcement followed, and we’d finally get a break that was (roughly?) from March 20th to April 25th, and I literally skipped across my house with childlike joy when I got the news (that’s not a joke). So, me and everyone else lived happily ever after, knowing that after over a month off we’d all return to school stronger than ever or something. Except that wasn’t the case at all, COVID of course only got worse, so this 1-month break became a basically indefinite one. I'll never forget how miserable I was having to finish off my senior year being fully remote, it didn’t help seeing the way some of my peers flourished in such a weird environment. I don't think that stuff was ever for me. Eventually the school year ended, I had slogged my way to the finish line, regents were waived at least, and there were mixed emotions when I walked back into Newtown for the first time in months to drop off materials and grab my yearbook. High school started as normal as it possibly could have for the Class of 2020 when we were freshmen. But now I can’t ignore never getting a graduation or a prom at the end of it, even though that’s nobody’s fault, only a result of the crazy circumstances. Not everything can be perfect all the time, I try not to let it take away from why I'm even able to reminisce in the first place. It's only been about 3 years since graduating and each year that passes makes me miss the great parts of high school more, regardless of how that chapter was closed. It’s a special feeling when I get to compare the version of me that was fresh out of elementary school, then middle school, then learning what being a high school student really felt like, to now. I’ll always be able to look back and see a pretty introverted nervous wreck (I probably will always be) for most of my time in classrooms, but one who still managed to meet great people and will miss the ones I probably won't see again. I think I wrote too much, but thanks to some of the friends and teachers that you just don’t find twice.