Dear Seniors
I still remember the first time my heart was broken. It was terrible. My mother tried her best to console me by telling me everything would be okay in a couple of days. It wasn’t, and the Brigham's hot fudge sundaes—her maternal cure-all—barely made a dent in my misery.
Your senior year has been nothing like anything we imagined. We opened with the optimism and nervous energy that typically marks the fall. The momentum after winter break was energizing, and the promise of senior spring beckoned on the horizon. News of coronavirus started slowly, but its devastation picked up speed, and then one thing after another shut down. Once our campus closed, the reality of the pandemic’s power over all of our lives could not be ignored. Most of what you envisioned for your last few months of high school evaporated in front of your eyes as the postponements and cancellations mounted.
You are all probably tired of hearing people tell you that you will come out of this stronger or it is an important life lesson for you to nourish. But you will, and it is. Over the last few months, you have learned about slowing down and the gift of time. The premium that many of us placed on being busy as if it were a badge of honor has lost its luster. You have discovered the value of letting your mind wander guiltlessly and how the simple act of walking with someone, even when you are masked and six feet apart, calms the mind. You have also been given a master class in dedication by your teachers that I hope you will never forget. Almost overnight, they transformed their curricula so you could learn uninterrupted while the world spun out of control around you and them.
Understandably, you may look back on these months with a mixture of disappointment and regret. I hope you will come to understand that you will never be forgotten just because we were not able to celebrate your final act and to say good-bye in the ways we had planned. Your senior year will stand out from all others because you did not allow the cancellations and postponements to define you. The Poly class of 2020 will forever be remembered for your resilience and generosity and commitment and for exhibiting the power of the human spirit to learn from the embers of heartbreak and to move forward.
Be well.
JWB
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