Senior year for the class of 2021 started unlike any other high school before it... in the middle of a global pandemic while kids are at home. It's true that these kids got used to it, their last months of the previous school year being at home due to the same thing, but it's somehow different when it's at the start.
I remember how different my senior year felt all those years ago. I remember the air seemed changed, as if I was already transitioning from feeling at home in my high school, to knowing I was off for grander adventures. I knew it would all be over in a flash and that soaking up each moment would really matter.
It makes me sad for kids who don't get to live each moment, with each other, to the fullest this year. While I know that schools have adapted the best they can, and not all kids like their school so this might be a blessing, I still can't help but ache for the social interactions they would normally get to participate in.
Normally a senior photo session is all about making the graduate feel beautiful or handsome. It's about having fun, enjoying the spotlight for a minute. That has never more so felt important to me as it does in this new world. I was impressed spending the afternoon with this lovely lady. Jessica seemed to be taking things in stride, still full of that youthful excitement about what graduation means.
I think we can all learn from Jessica and her positive energy, everything has a silver lining, especially the hard stuff. There is nothing but good waiting for us on the other side of struggle.
Sometimes when you are in a dark place,youthinkyou have beenburied, but actually you have been planted.
