Saying goodbye to senior year from a distance

A letter to every senior at NCC,

As we finish up our finals and say goodbye to our professors over Zoom, take a moment to think about everything NCC has brought you. Maybe it’s parking tickets, maybe it’s a ton of leftover bonus bucks or maybe it’s memories that you will be talking about for the rest of your life.

This is an ending to college that I definitely did not expect. We never thought a normal week would turn into our last. Just one more time, I wanted to sit in the classroom, hang out on Jefferson lawn on a sunny day and finally walk across the stage at graduation.

If your organization didn’t get to put on its last event, I’m sorry. If you didn’t get to play your sport for the last time, I’m sorry. You worked so hard to get this far and your last chance to be on the stage, on the field, or with your broad members should not have been taken away from you so soon.

We won’t get to experience senior traditions like every other class has in the past. This was supposed to be the best and possibly the last year in school for us. Even though it has been cut short due to COVID-19, I hope that you feel like you made it the best year yet.

Eventually, we will get to celebrate with our friends again and we will get to see the future classes end their time at NCC the right way.

We don’t have to pretend like everything is okay right now because it’s not. Maybe you just started to feel like you were getting your life together and now you feel lost. It’s okay to feel hurt and to be mad. Regardless of what you planned to do next, it’s important to remember that even though we are not all celebrating in person, you are still graduating college. You should be proud of yourself for accomplishing that. Your diploma will come and soon your life will be normal again.

Don’t remember the end of college as a disappointment, but instead remember college as the best four years you had with your peers, your teammates and your friends.

This experience has taught me never to take anything for granted. I now regret all those times I said I wanted to stay in by myself instead of making memories with my friends. In the future, I want to be more open to trying new things and more willing to step outside of my comfort zone because you never know what life will throw at you.

Nothing can make up for the time that we have lost together, but we can make the most out of our situation. On May 3, I encourage you to still get dressed up and still celebrate your accomplishments with your loved ones, whether it is virtually or in-person (with social distancing). For those of you who I will never get to say goodbye to in person, this is my goodbye. Thank you for being in my life and for giving me the college memories that I will never forget. I wish you the best of luck in all of your future endeavors.

Let’s finish this year off strong because it is still our year.

Congratulations seniors, you did it.

Sincerely,

A 2020 senior