Perhaps we should all take a minute to pause and reflect on the tragic year for the Class of 2020 in the United States. Perhaps we should put in a kind and sympathetic word to anyone we know who is a senior this year.
Indeed, it has been reported extensively that members of this class have undergone bookends of tragedy not of their doing. The awful Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred in their first year of life and now, as they prepare to graduate from high school, they have been saddled with the Coronavirus, COVID-19, which is threatening whether they will enjoy the prom or even wear the cap and gown in commencement exercises so common in any other year.
Closer to home, this has been a particularly awful year for Wayland High School.
Last summer, the class lost one of its most popular members and perhaps its best athlete in Ethan Mutschler, to a traffic crash.
Because our culture is so in tune with wins and losses in the athletic arena, it has not escaped notice that both the Wildcat boys’ football and basketball teams, the two most popular sports, failed to win a game. While it is true that COVID-19 is proving to us that athletic wins are overrated in importance, our values say otherwise.
Wayland boys went 0-for-30 on the gridiron and on the basketball court. It shouldn’t matter so much, but for them it does, and it was nobody’s fault.
So I am particularly sorry for Wayland High School’s Class of 2020. It has had to endure more suffering than others. If you see any member of the class, and we return to protocol that permits handshakes and hugs, don’t hesitate.
And tell them there are better days ahead.
COVER PHOTO: One disappointed senior this year was Kyle Pierce of Hopkins, captured in a moment of reflection.
