Welcome to adulthood, first lesson: Shit normally does not go as planned. Granted, nobody thought you would have to learn this one so early but so it goes. Regardless of the 4,224 Harry Potter pages you read to make you think you are in charge of your own destiny, for a lot of us that isn't the case. I know, I was pretty bummed by that one too. Something that you had no control over has now had a deep impact on your life. From here there are three options now presented to you. 1. You can let these external factors upset you so much that you are unable to overcome your own feelings that you were dealt this injustice. 2. You can get really angry about it and pout that nothing is fair until you receive so much criticism for your antics that you decide to do something about it. 3. Use this unjust moment as fuel to take the reins on your own life immediately so you can steer yourself in a direction of your choosing. I know option 3 is the correct answer, but honestly I use option 2 most of the time and it's not that bad either.
Second lesson: Laugh at yourself. Fucking cliche, I know. I'm not happy about it either. Side lesson, everything you say and do has already been said and done. But it's the truth, you need to laugh at yourself. Take humor whenever it presents itself. Like you, for instance. You're probably sitting at your kitchen table on a video conference in a full cap and gown, fighting back tears because you can't walk on a stage. Hopefully, you can take that in now and have a good laugh at the ridiculous situation you find yourself in. If you can't laugh at that right now, that's ok too. With any luck, in a few years you'll look back at the absurdity of your makeshift graduation ceremony and find the comedy in it.
Lesson three: Look for the positive side in things. I know, I struggle with this one myself. Sometimes it's so easy to enjoy the negative. It's a big world out there and as I'm sure you've heard, a lot of it is shitty. If you focus on everything that's going wrong, it'll consume you. I don't want to see that happen so I'll even try to start you off. Yes, you won't have a traditional senior year like we had, but we never had a six month summer like you're about to have. Those were the things TJ Detweiler's dreams were made of. If you don't get the reference, please Google it in silence so I don't feel so old.
I can cue (queue?) you in on what you missed from my point of view if you'd like. My graduation was on a turf field where everything is already twenty degrees hotter and it was my first time in a dress. As hard as the heat tried to make me pass out, it was the beach ball that I blew up that almost did it. Fighting unconsciousness, I threw the ball out to my fellow classmates only to have it intercepted by our Dean of Students and instantly popped by what I hope was a pen. After my bubble was literally bursted I tried to tune back into the adult talking on the stage who nobody knew. He said something along the lines of "it didn't matter about the two dates on your tombstone, but more what you do with the dash in the middle", like he hadn't plagiarize that whole concept after you spent the last four years submitting everything to turnitin. Then a couple of more people talked while I sweat through my gown. After that I grabbed a piece of paper, and went out to eat with my family. We didn't even throw our caps in the air which I thought was the whole point of graduating.
If you're still feeling slighted here are a few suggestions that I've compiled. If you want a graduation experience, put a blanket over your head on a football field and make funny faces at your friends while you take turns reciting poems that no one has ever heard of. You missed prom and alright, you've got a legitimate gripe there. Once everything opens back up either go in on a beach house or rent out half a motel with your friends. Secret is, that's the only part you remember anyway. As for the Valedictorian, tough luck kid. You put in a lot of hard work and missed your opportunity to prove that you're not just a nerd. That really sucks and I'm sorry. But something tells me you're going to turn out alright.
Jealousy is one of the ugliest traits, try to avoid it at all costs. Yes you may be jealous of our normal senior years and of our graduations. But I guarantee you that you aren't half as jealous as we are for the memories you are about to make in college. Enjoy it while you got it. Best of luck Class Of '20.
No comments:
Post a Comment