Do you remember your last weeks of high school? Maybe it was a senior jump day, maybe it was a day steeped in tradition at your school where the entire surrounding neighborhood knew local seniors were on their way to bigger things and best were going to let loose and have a little fun on the town, or maybe this was your last meeting of friends at your favorite late-night restaurant for an evening filled with hijinks?
Either way, it was most likely a graduation day.
In most years and for most students, a college degree is the second time in their life that they will experience commencement. Just four years ago, most students would hear their name called, walk across the stage in front of their friends, family or loved ones and feel that ritualistic feeling of conclusion after four years of learning both the subjects they had been taught taught – and about themselves.
However, this year it is different. This year’s graduates did not have the opportunity to experience one of life’s most important rites of passage: graduating from high school.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges and disruptions to our lives, big and small. But for the class of 2020, that meant missing the traditional celebrations and ceremonies that mark the end of their high school journey.
No prom, no last day of school, no goodbye to their favorite professors or professors – no closure to some of the most formative years of their lives. At best, they had a Zoom graduation.
Rituals play a major role in our lives
In my position, I have the honor of witnessing the growth and transformation of our students throughout their academic careers. Each year, it is my greatest privilege to stand before our graduating seniors as they prepare to begin the next chapter of their lives – because that is truly what the meaning of “beginning” is.
After speaking with students preparing for the start of school in May, the absence of this important high school ritual has left many of our high school students feeling a sense of loss and nostalgia as they prepare to leave the classroom and to enter the unknown territory of adulthood.
Rituals like graduation ceremonies play a crucial role in our lives. They provide structure, meaning and help bring order in the face of change. They mark milestones, celebrate achievements and honor traditions. Many rituals are a rite of passage to the next stage of our lives – and when we don’t experience this rite of passage, it’s easy to feel like one stage of life is fading into the next one.
As writer and educator Terry Tempest Williams said: “Rituals are the formulas by which harmony is restored. » In other words, they give us the feeling of completion and give us a guide for what comes next.
As the start of the school year approaches, I am reminded of the resilience and strength our graduating seniors have demonstrated throughout their difficult college journeys…
