Dear 2021 Seniors,
We are so sorry.
We said those words over and over to the class of 2020 last spring as casualties from the derailed end of their senior year started to pile up: spring sports, awards ceremonies, concerts, shows, recitals, graduation ceremonies, graduation parties, last everythings, goodbyes.
We are so sorry, Class of 2021
We said those words over and over to the class of 2020 last spring as casualties from the derailed end of their senior year started to pile up: spring sports, awards ceremonies, concerts, shows, recitals, graduation ceremonies, graduation parties, last everythings, goodbyes.
We were so sorry for them. We still are. We are sorry for how their senior year ended and for how their freshman or gap or other kind of “first” year has begun.
But concern and compassion are not competitive sports. We do not have to pit one class against the other to see who wins the sympathy prize. We are sorry for the class of 2020. And now, dear class of 2021, we are sorry for you, too.
We are your fans and supporters, your parents, grandparents, teachers, neighbors, coaches, and friends, and we wish we were offering straight-up congratulations without the condolences.
To be clear: We ARE offering congratulations to you now, just as the class of 2020’s fans offered them. Like them, we have much to look forward to with you that is not hanging in a pandemic balance.
And yet here we are.
We hoped that things would be better for you
For a while—as long as possible and then some—we held onto hope it wouldn’t be this way. Last spring, when the world (a former president, even) was heaping entirely deserved and appropriate attention, concern, and pledges of support on the class of 2020, we gladly (if soberly) joined the cheers and the applause.
Privately, we told you, “Thank goodness this isn’t your senior year.” But then the murmurings of “the class of 2021 will have it worse” started rumbling.
We didn’t believe it or didn’t want to believe it and held onto hope it wasn’t true. But now, at this point in your senior year, we know what has turned out to be true so far.
We do not need to get into a debate about which class “has it worse” (or, rather, further a debate already started, on account of emotions understandably running VERY high on this issue). We can instead say, again, that we are sorry for your 2020 predecessors, and we’re sorry for you. Just as we were happy in many not-to-be-missed ways for them, and we’re also happy in ways we-do-not-want-to-rush-past for you.
It’s true we can’t tell you, “There’s always next year.” We can’t glibly assure you things will even out and you’ll get an end to your year that makes up for its beginning.
But for all we can’t do, here are some things we won’t do.
Here is what we will not do
We won’t assume this revised senior year is easy for you or okay with you just because you had more warning about it than the class in whose path-breaking footsteps you now walk.
We won’t brush off your “I hate this…I need a hug” texts just because we’re familiar with them. We will let them keep breaking our hearts, because we know the realities behind them are breaking yours.
We won’t expect you to put a positive spin on everything.
We won’t perpetuate “at least” thinking, as in “at least you had some of your normal fall sports season,” or “at least you might still get a graduation ceremony.” Maybe you did and maybe you will, but then again, maybe you didn’t and won’t.
In any case, does any of us really want an “at least” life, least of all a group of students who are supposed to be having one of the “most” years of their lives?
Here is what we will do
But for all we can’t do and all we won’t do, here’s what we will do.
We will advocate for you or cheer you on while you advocate for yourselves.
We will celebrate you in any and every way possible.
We will be available.
We will support you while you make tricky decisions about your future.
We will learn alongside you.
We will pay attention to your mental health.
We will not throw away the rest of this year with you.
We will look forward with and for you.
We are so sorry for you, class of 2021. But as sorry as we are, we are other things more: we are proud of you, inspired by you and hopeful for you. We would not have chosen this year for you. But this year or any other, we would always choose you.
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