Mason's Monolog

As of Thursday, March 21, I am officially a high school graduate. First and foremost, I want to congratulate all of my fellow 2020 classmates. While we didn’t get the same recognition as our predecessors, I just want you all to know that our lives’ work has not gone unnoticed. While it may feel like we got the short end of the stick, we will surely have quite the story to tell our children and grandchildren. I think it’s safe to say that this year will go down in history, as to my knowledge, it’s the first American pandemic of this millennium and one of the craziest years to be a student in any school, from primary school all the way up to college.

Graduation is such an important accomplishment for all of the students and their families. I feel it’s important that we celebrate this accomplishment, while of course following CDC guidelines, because I believe that an achievement like this shouldn’t be simply brushed off and cast aside. I appreciate all of the students that pushed through the distance learning and all the parents and family members that supported us, encouraged us, and ultimately helped us reach our goal which was to graduate. Also, we owe a debt of gratitude to the teachers for their dedication and commitment to the students. I personally want to thank all of you for all of your help and support.

So much has changed so quickly and we’ve adapted to it just as fast. I hope that everything can go back to normal just as quickly as it changed. It may not be this month or even next month, but I do hope we can open up again and feel safe around one another. Maybe the schools will eventually hold formal ceremonies for this year’s graduates.

While the year of our graduation is unorthodox to say the least, I believe we can and will make the most of it, in a safe matter, of course.

Congratulations, Class of 2020!