Aragon seniors have brought up several concerns as the cancellation of school cuts through the originally scheduled dates for traditional events like prom and the graduation ceremony.
As the number of coronavirus cases has remained well over 1 million nationwide, some are questioning whether it will be possible to do these events during the summer. The district has recently announced a projection that they would hold the 2020 graduation ceremony virtually.
“There will be people that want us to do [graduation] over summer, over November [or] over winter break next year, and there’s all kinds of [other] opinions out there,” said San Mateo Union High School District superintendent Kevin Skelly. “The shelter in place rule has been set through May, so that’s [making it hard] to do some in-person ceremony. We discussed things like having cars or a drive through [event], but given the emotions of the day, we didn’t think we should control anyone’s behavior. If worst comes to worst, we would have the class of 2020 ceremony with the class of 2021, so those are the decisions that we’ll know about as time goes on and whether the pandemic eases or doesn’t.”
Senior Madison Campbell feels that graduation would be the hardest event to miss out on.
“Although prom is for juniors and seniors, I’ve already experienced dance[s] before like homecoming and formal,” Campbell said. “I’ve never experienced a real graduation besides elementary school and middle school, but graduation from high school is a bigger deal, and it’s something you don’t get to experience that often.”
Similarly, senior Sahana Bhattal believes that cancelling the graduation ceremony would be a missed opportunity to give a final farewell to Aragon.
“I was a little upset that after four years of high school, there wouldn’t be any celebration to end all the hard work that the class of 2020 has pulled through with,” Bhattal said. “[During] graduation, you’re there with your classmates for pretty much the last time before everyone goes off and does their own thing. It [would be] nice that you get your name called and everyone is able to acknowledge the person walking across the stage that worked hard all four years and now has a high school diploma. We weren’t able to give a proper goodbye to each other.”
Senior Kristina Bruce is worried that the coronavirus impact will extend further into the start of her and her classmates’ future.
“It’s a bunch of change for all of us [since] we didn’t get the correct closure,” Bruce said. “Because of the coronavirus, we don’t know if we’re going to be able to start college like how we regularly expected it and it might be harder to adjust because of this entire impact.”
Despite the unexpected and disappointing way that their high school experience is concluding, many of the seniors still know that this isn’t the end of the world for them after all.
“I’m a bit more appreciative that although these important events have been cancelled, we should appreciate that we have a roof over our head [and] clean water,” Bhattal said. “We’re [also] able to keep ourselves at home and take preventative measures and not be infected with this virus because it’s infecting so many people, families and loved ones. Though I am a bit upset that I’m not able to see my friends and have a proper ceremony to end high school, I’m glad that the school board has been able to keep us healthier through social distancing because I would rather be at home than risk my life and other people’s health.”
Skelly has a powerful message to all the seniors about what really matters in terms of their experience.
“Graduation is a symbol [of] a destination rather than an actual event,” Skelly said. “The actual event is spending four years of high school doing well, working hard and having a journey. My message to seniors would be to think about all [they’ve] accomplished and how [they’ve] changed and grown up. That journey itself is much more important than the day of graduation when you’re in a gown and sitting. Graduation is [generally] forgotten, but the journey is never forgotten.”
