From the Fringe … Thank you Class of 2020, for giving us a future

What hasn’t COVID-19 changed? What life hasn’t the coronavirus altered in some way, shape or form?

The answers to those questions are simple. We know, it has changed everything. We know the virus has touched us all in some way.

And that is especially true for the high school class of 2020 all over the world.

Just try to imagine what the last three months have been like for our Havre High graduates, who will have an altered commencement ceremony on Sunday at Blue Pony Stadium.

Back on March 1, these seniors lives were going along as expected. Spring was coming and they were about to embark on their last three months of high school — and in many ways, their last three months of their youth.

Then boom, their lives changed forever. Schools closed March 13, and they never re-opened. Distance learning was ushered in, while sports, and all other extra curricular activities were shuttered for the remainder of the 2020 school year. For teenagers who thrive on routine, their lives were turned upside down.

In the beginning of it all, many probably thought that our teenagers would love the school closure. That they were on vacation early, and that, social distancing was right up their alley. After all, they were being asked to stay home, stay on the couch, stay on their phones and their XBOX’s, use things like Zoom and FaceTime as learning tools, order takeout and do the things this generation has already essentially been doing before COVID-19 turned everything upside down.

In other words, what we were asking of our young people, they were already really good at doing.

And still, we learned one really important thing through all of those — while these kids love their phones and Snapchat and Fortnite, they also love school. They love being with their friends, their peers, their teachers, their teams, their bands, their choirs, they love to put on plays and musicals for their communities, and above all else, they love being high school students.

I know I’ve observed that during this unprecedented time. And no one has taught me that more than the HHS Class of 2020. I personally know just how much they’ve missed the normalcy of school. I know just how much they’ve missed their last three months of their last year at Havre High. I’ve seen it, I’ve felt, and I fully understand it.

So, what do we want the Class of 2020 to know as they embark on graduation weekend? Well, I personally want them to know that, what they’ve gone through the last three months will be etched in history. It will be studied, written about, analyzed and, perhaps above else, memorialized.

Why? Why would kids getting three months off of school be something to applaud you ask? I’ll tell you why. Because these kids were asked to stand down, to sacrifice what they know, what they love, they were asked to give up perhaps one of the most important times of their lives for a greater good.

The Class of 2020 was asked to change, on a level never seen before, so that, one day, they, and we, can go back to the future we were all looking forward too, and probably took for granted just a mere three months ago.

Now, again, it may seem simplistic to you and I, and it may not seem like much that the Class of 2020 got to stay home for their final three months of school, but, for those who came before them, we can’t even put themselves in our shoes. We have no idea what it’s like.

I know I don’t. I got my senior year. I had my last year’s season of tennis. I had a traditional senior week, I had a very traditional graduation at Havre High. My last three months at HHS was as normal as normal can be.

And it will be again someday, and we owe that to the Class of 2020. When history looks back on this pandemic, one thing we’ll remember is the Class of 2020, we’ll remember this senior class, all over the world, as a class who had to endure upheaval on a scale never, ever seen before in our lifetimes.

So, in retrospect, the Class of 2020 did a hell of a lot more than just stay home for three months. They were forced to give up things that they can never get back. They lost a time of their life that most people will cherish forever, and, for that, I am truly saddened for all of them. I will also feel a heartfelt sadness for what the Class of 2020 lost over the last three months.

But, more than sadness, I will look back on the spring of 2020 with a pride and a sense of gratitude for our seniors. I am proud of they way they have handled this difficult time. And I’m grateful that they have handled it the way they have, because, what they’ve done has assured me that, better days are indeed ahead.

The Class of 2020 has endured so much. And yet, this weekend, they will graduate, they will move on with their lives, and they, even in this new world, will march forward and become the next great leaders of that world. And having witnessed how they’ve handled themselves during this time, I have no doubt, our futures are in good hands.

So congrats Blue Pony Class of 2020. I know your graduation isn’t exactly how you dreamt it up, but, enjoy it nonetheless. And, lastly, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping to make sure my future, your future, our future is bright one.

And please know, what you’ve gone through the last three months, I, we will never forget it.