The halls of Fort Osage echo with emptiness. Classroom doors are locked, teachers are gone, and my high school career follows to a close. Around each bend and everywhere I look, I see a memory, a golden moment in time where I enjoyed my youth. Whether good or bad, through the laughter and tears, they are a part of my life, a part of me, sentiments I will treasure forever. 

On Friday the 13th of March, 2020, the Seniors of Fort Osage high school had their last day as students due to the pandemic sweeping America. They had their last early coffee runs before school, the last bells they would hear as high schoolers, the last team practices, and the last lunches with their childhood friends. And they had no idea that high school was over. 

Jackson County established a stay at home order on Tuesday, March 24, ordering the population to stay inside unless it is for essentials. As of April 15, Fort Osage announced that they will be shutting the school down for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year, sealing the end of school for all Seniors. However, graduation has been reset for July 31 and Prom is in on the calendar for July 25. Project Grad has been shut down as well, but they will still be recognizing students. 

The Seniors of 2020 came into a world that grieved from 9/11. They grew in a country divided by political pursuits and now graduate during a pandemic. This has been a devastating turn of events for many seniors who had been holding on to hope for Graduation, of the day they could walk the stage and say, “I did it!” It is heart wrenching for so many to be cheated out of their last dance and final two months with friends and teachers. 

Yet 2020 is a class of perfect vision. Although they are a class that has grown through strife and learned through grief, they are a class that has graduated with strength. They are a class blossoming with young writers, young actresses, young athletes, and the new tomorrow for America. They will continue on to change the world.