Schools closed, store shelves empty, parades, events and all gatherings of  ten people or more have been canceled. The global pandemic, COVID-19, is all that people are thinking of, it’s on everyone’s mind whether they are concerned about it or not. Information about the COVID-19 virus has been confusing the public. Conflicting information has been given on how it is spread, what the symptoms are and how it is treated.

   Lake Central High School had its last day of school on March 13, 2020 and was originally planning to come back the following month.That quickly changed on March 19 after Indiana State governor repealed all public and private schools in the state of Indiana until at least May 1. When the Lake Central School Corporation email was originally sent out about the cancellation of school, students frantically posted on social media in excitement to spread the news while teachers were flustered as their plans would all change. At first, many students were excited that they didn’t have to walk into school for another month, little did they know that “distance learning” would be put in place and the transition from in school learning to online is harder than many students and faculty had originally thought.

    Whether prom, senior banquet and other events that were planned throughout the rest of the year have been canceled or postponed is up in the air. Many people are thinking of what if scenarios if prom were to be canceled. Where else would one wear the $400 dress girls procured for prom. This has hit the Class of 2020 hard. Seniors are now worried that they won’t be able to walk the stage at graduation to be handed the diploma they have spent every day for the past 13 years working for. They’re anxious, realizing they won’t be able to take the field or stage again, hear their name get called on Senior night, possibly not attend senior band commencement. With the cancellation of school, most spring sports seasons have been eliminated as well.  Many of the athletes of the Class of 2020 did not realize when they left the field last spring that it was their last time to wear a Lake CentraI uniform. Scholarship opportunities and the experience of committing to a college for many seniors have been taken away due to cancellation of seasons.

    High schools across the nation have canceled proms, graduations, sports seasons and some students won’t be attending school until August. High School is a time to experience your last moments as a teenager before you graduate and move onto bigger and better things. This will be a time in your life that you look back on, the best days of your life. The Class of 2020 is trying to make light of the situation at hand, that’s the only thing they can do at this time. It is out of Lake Central’s control on whether these events still happen and if/when we will attend school, it’s at the power of the state now. Seniors not only at Lake Central but all around the world are hoping that COVID-19 won’t stop all their last special moments together.