HOW IS THE CLASS OF 2020 DEALING WITH THESE TRYING TIMES?
Rohin Buch
Health Head
Ever since we got the news that we were not going to be in school starting after the “mid-winter” break, seniors at Francis Parker School in San Diego, California have been dismayed by the fact that we might not get a real graduation ceremony or experience the “senior spring.” However, as time passed, and we gained the title “Google Meet Class of ‘20,” we got so caught up in the many assignments, projects, and APs on the horizon, that we did not even realize that once APs ended, we would be done with high school. As AP weeks neared, we began to stress about AP exams, some of us opting out of taking them because colleges might not accept the credits or because they wouldn’t carry the same weight a regular three-hour in-person exam would. Others, myself included, decided to stick with the exams and take them anyway, if not to prove that we were resilient, then to at least show our teachers our sustained commitment to learning. This year, my exam load, in addition to having been decreased due to the shortening of the exams, was not as heavy as years past, which then allowed me to greatly relish the time I had left in high school.
APs started the week of May 11th and from then for the next two weeks, time seemed to fly. On Wednesday, May 13th, we received an email from the school stating that the Commencement committee had come to a decision and that there were to be time slots in which we signed up to come to campus to pick up our caps and gowns, which we could decorate. There were also time slots to sign up for an “individual commencement ceremony.” This decision, which seemed like an odd choice at first, turned out to be the best option given the circumstances. We were allowed to bring our immediate family to campus and in a very well-thought-out manner, we were to pick up our cords, if we received any, from a lunch table outside the Student Life Center, and then proceeded to the Lancer Lawn to have our individual ceremonies. The crowd consisted of Mr. Esch, Dr. Patsko and Dr. Gillespie, who were probably just as loud as the normal crowd would have been! After our ceremony, we were shown to the Rose Art Gallery where there were family photos taken. This whole experience was definitely something memorable and really made us feel like a real graduation occurred rather than a very impersonal online ceremony.
Besides graduation, when Friday the 22nd came around it was surreal that we were going to talk to our classmates and see our teachers for the last time in class virtually! While it was still as heartfelt as it would have been in person, it was quite hard to cope with for me. A big part of my life was ending, but I pushed through and now I am a proud high school graduate!
In the following weeks, there are two events lined up for seniors. The first, happening on June 3, is a drive-through at school. It will consist of the teachers loading the senior care packages into our cars while we all drive through the school for the last time. The second, on June 5, is our actual commencement “ceremony”. The school has arranged for all the seniors and select faculty to go to Petco Park, and in the parking lot, watch the compiled video of all the graduations, speakers, and everything that goes into a “normal” ceremony. This will culminate our year and send us into a summer which will definitely be different than ones past but will be so memorable nonetheless.
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