The tradition of the turning of the tassels held a little extra meaning this weekend.
Not only are students moving on to the next phases of their academic and professional lives, but they’re also putting the worst parts of the pandemic behind them.
Over the last 14 months, the Class of 2021 has tackled challenges unlike any other group of students before them.
While COVID-19 robbed last year’s graduates of the final two months of their senior years, this weekend’s crop of students likely feel that they’ve lost even more time.
Since March of 2020, to no fault of their own, students and their families have been forced to adapt to the circumstances created by the virus.
At the apex of local cases and hospitalizations, it became almost impossible for families to know whether or not their children would be in school each week.
Adjusting to the new way of living created hardship for many: academically, emotionally and physically.
At the same time, many students made the best of a bad situation by continuing to hit the books, participating in athletics and music, and volunteering their time to helping others.
As time progressed, restrictions were loosened and the schools were deemed safe to resume many normal activities. Now we’re at a point where everyone 12 and up can get vaccinated, and the virus numbers are dipping.
All Bartholomew County schools held in-person graduations this weekend, and we’re glad that was the case. Graduation is a special time for students and their families, and denying any kind of celebration together — at this point in the pandemic — would’ve proven foolish.
The Class of 2021 has endured much together, but have also learned a lot.
The perseverance displayed by the most recent graduates is admirable, and a direct representation of our local youth.
