If anyone would’ve told me last year that this would be the situation people would be graduating in, I never would’ve believed them. In May of 2019, I was living my best life, finishing-up AP’s and finals, getting more excited every day for my high school graduation. The amount of people that are unable to experience those monumental events right now is heartbreaking. There are some schools, including Stevens, that are attempting to have a postponed graduation ceremony or commencement, but these students will never have the “normal” end of their senior year that they hoped for when they began it. Although it’s a shame, there’s not much we can do about it now – nothing we can do, that is, except for reflecting on one of the biggest movies of last year. I’m talking, of course, about Avengers: Endgame.
At my high school graduation, I was chosen as class speaker and gave a full speech about Endgame. Although it held weight then, I feel like the quote I was referring is even more relevant now. One of the first lines from the film that was released was spoken by Iron Man. He said as he was floating adrift in space, “Part of the journey is the end.” When I spoke in June of last year, I basically talked about how far we had come and how we had to bring our past experiences forward with us into college. But now, that saying holds a completely different meaning.
The end for so many graduating high school and college students is nothing like what they had pictured two months ago. So much has changed and it seems like things are still changing every day. Not only is the end exciting for students, it’s also scary, nerve-wracking, and completely unexpected. Everyone is pushing to make it through one more day, one more week, or however long this takes. Quite literally, the end of this school year is a journey of mind and will.
Although I can guarantee that this is not the spring semester that any student at Stevens had in mind, I hope that the graduating seniors can use this experience to their advantage. We’re being forced to stop and reflect on what’s important in life. If this time is used effectively, I believe we can all come out of this as changed for the better. This is one journey that has the power to affect each and every one of us — it’s up to us to decide in what way we’re going to be affected.
A major congratulations to all of the graduating students of Stevens. I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy – we can’t wait to see where you’ll end up once all this has passed.
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