Today was the day everything was supposed to go back to normal. Today was the day when band, orchestra, and chorus kids were supposed to be packing their bags to go to Disney World. Promposals may have begun today, AP students would start cramming for their scheduled AP tests, juniors would be buckling down for the SAT and ACT, seniors would start wearing college merch to school, showing off how all their hard work paid off and so much more.

But instead, everyone is quarantined at their house. There is no Disney, no Promposals, no AP tests, SAT, ACT — just the same four walls of our houses that we have been staring at for the past two weeks. I truly struggle to try to explain the pain that high school students around the world are feeling. 

I’ve read and heard that our feelings “aren’t valid” and that “other people are suffering, so you shouldn’t be upset that you will not be having a Prom.”

But the thing is, our feelings are valid. It is completely justifiable to be upset that we may not get to participate in an event that some have been looking forward to since the first time they saw High School Musical 3 or 10 Things I Hate About You or even Pretty in Pink. Our feelings were valid when we found out we will not be going to Disney. For some, this was the only chance they were going to get to go to “The Happiest Place on Earth,” perhaps their only chance at a senior trip. 

Of course it’s valid to point out that there is profound suffering taking place in the world that no amount of high school cancellations can ever match.  At the same time, however, our losses have not come without a lot of pain.

Today was the day everything was supposed to go back to normal, the day we would be able to swap stories about what we did over the break, how we handled being trapped in our houses with only our parents and siblings for company, how we slowly went stir crazy and actually managed to miss coming to school. However, this was not the case.

Two weeks ago when the overhead speaker came on to announce that we would not be returning to school until March 30, there were cheers around the building. Students and teachers were excited for a little break in the middle of the year, but no one expected it to advance quite like this. First came the email that everything is going to be fine, that NA was just taking precautions. Then came the first extension email, indicating that school would not be back to normal until April 14. And then, last night the president spoke to the country and said the quarantine will be enforced until April 30. Exactly a month from today, the day when everything was supposed to go back to normal.

I am tempted to finish this article on a positive note, but I find it too hard and do not feel it would accurately represent what many of us are going through at the moment. Instead, I will end by saying that it is okay to be upset. It is okay to cry, even if crying may not fix anything (it is not supposed to). It is okay to yell or sulk or do whatever it is we have to do to try to cope with what is happening. All I can do is beg everyone to listen to the quarantine and stay inside, so we can fight this virus and beat it as soon as humanly possible..