During the first two weeks of June, I will have reached two of the biggest landmarks in a person’s life. I turned 18 yesterday and I will be graduating six days from now. I’ve officially reached adulthood, I’ve departed from my adolescent life and am beginning to prep myself for my future. 

Most people look back at this time in their life as a carefree time for jubilation. They remember how terrifying, but riveting it was. They look back on how exciting it was to have their whole life ahead of them, recall how joyous it was to celebrate all they had already accomplished. 

So I think it’s fair to say that becoming legal and graduating are often characterized by these incredible feelings. And that is exactly the reason that so many people apologize to me when they hear I am part of the 2020 graduating class. 

I think most people would say that graduating during this time sucks. It’s disappointing that we have been stripped of so many incredible experiences. We’ll never get to dress up for senior prom, nor walk across the stage in our caps and gowns. We don’t have the luxury of saying a formal goodbye to all the teachers who have impacted us and all the friends who have supported us. We can’t sit at the lunch tables and look around one last time at all of our peers. 

I understand feeling cheated and angry and upset. I too feel resentment and sadness at how things turned out for us. We’ve worked so hard and we can’t reap the benefits of our dedication. Almost everyone besides the class of 2020 will have had the luxury of enjoying the pleasures that come with these important events and accomplishments. Everyone besides us will have gotten to experience a formal departure from adolescence and an exciting introduction to adulthood. 

But, if I were to sit around and act bitter about all that things I’ve missed out on, I will only worsen my experience. Not being able to have a graduation ceremony or a last day of school does not negate the fact that I have accomplished so much. Just because the standard celebration ceremonies and parties have been canceled shouldn’t mean I don’t get to enjoy this time. 

I still have the luxury of receiving my diploma and letting my parents watch from the car. I still get to call my friends up or write them letters to tell them how much they mean to me. I still can sit in the high school parking lot and let the memories rush in.

So while we might not get the traditional graduation time, we still have so many incredible things to enjoy.