The Fate of Graduation

Graduation is a big milestone for many seniors as they walk across the stage remembering the previous 12 years of hard work and dedication, transitioning into a new stage of life. This rite-of-passage that many look forward to is one of the events class of 2020 seniors fear they won’t get to experience with COVID-19 as a global pandemic and the government instituting social distancing rules. The original graduation date for Lake Ridge seniors would have been May 30th, 2020 at 9 a.m. at the MISD Performing Arts Center. MISD has announced a back-up date which would be June 20th at the same time and place. Their efforts to have the traditional ceremony is appreciated so senior, Alexis Wade, says the pushed back date is better than nothing.

“The school year was already different for me as it is my new school for my senior year. I knew when they started to give us online work that it was a possibility we would have none of our spring semester senior events. I felt relieved that after all my hard work, I would be able to walk the stage and show off my accomplishments over the last 12 years,” said Wade.

With graduation being pushed further into the summer, that can mean a change of plans for summer vacations and other gatherings. Many students had future commitments that the new date can interfere with. Senior, Elijah brooks, says he will most likely miss out on this long-awaited day because he will be be deployed with the United States Navy in the summer.

“I committed to the Navy earlier this year and I was getting deployed in June. I wanted to try to have as much fun as possible and enjoy the time with my friends before I left. When Corona hit, I thought about how much that would push back the events before I deploy. With the governor pushing schools back to April 30th, I feel like we aren’t going back to school, and with graduation and me deploying in June, I probably won’t make it to that either. I enjoyed school as long as  I had it this year, but it sucks not being able to walk the stage and do other things with my friends before I go because of the Coronavirus,” said Brooks.

School districts in neighboring areas such as DeSoto ISD, Red Oak ISD, and more have also postponed or cancelled senior events fully. It is hard to select an end date for the virus because the cases are rapidly spreading throughout the world. Senior, Joshua Chimenga, says he is grateful that there is still a possibility of having a graduation.

“I had some beginning of summer events that were cancelled already because of Corona scares. I’m grateful that the school district has tried to give us back a high school memory with giving a back-up date for graduation. They could have said that it is what it is, but they didn’t, and I’m grateful for that. Hopefully they do that for prom too,” said Chimenga.

Giving an exact date as to when the virus spread will be contained and everything can return to normal is still a mystery. With many schools and business resorting to other alternatives to get their work done, social distancing and other precautions to slow the virus can only help with the fate of graduation.