WHS Senior Commentary on Graduation: “We’re making the best out of this situation given the circumstances.”

Wilton High School senior Madeline Pennino is a member of the committee comprised of school administrators, parents, and students who have been planning graduation, which will be very different this year in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Tentative plans were communicated to members of the Class of 2020 on Sunday afternoon, to mixed reaction. Pennino wrote the following essay in response and has allowed GOOD Morning Wilton to publish it.

So I’m a high school senior, who looked forward to things such as college shirt day, internship, senior picnic, PGP, and graduation—all events that currently weigh heavily on the minds of fellow seniors and their families.

Yes, this year looks different—let me rephrase that:  this year sucks, but for many more reasons which are far more important than canceled social events…and that’s where I’d like to start.

In every lifetime people undergo some sort of “incredible” worldwide event. I think of my great-grandma, born in 1908, and recently passed this year…she lived through two world wars, the Vietnam and Cold War, the Great Depression, etc… Kids my age could be drafted right now; instead, we are asked to stay home to protect our health, which keeps our hospitals as “underwhelmed” as possible.

Even with these efforts, many places, such as the North East, are still struggling.

So when graduation plans/the work world looks different this year, and PGP and internship and school and millions of people’s jobs are canceled/stopped, I don’t question why:  these are unprecedented times.

I’ve accepted my graduation will not be normal–that’s fine. Do I wish I could have PGP? Yes, I do, but it’s ok.

I understand why everyone’s upset, I understand why we are all frustrated with the lack of communication from our public schools, or from colleges about what’s to come—we are all in the same boat, every college or high school senior in the country, and these schools and businesses don’t have the answers until the government tells them how to move forward…and even then, what we are advised to do might change because no one knows the right way to move forward with routine life right now. Again, it sucks…

I’m on the graduation committee for my school and I have been a part of every behind-the-scene moment. It’s painful, it’s stressful, and sometimes it feels like people aren’t being heard, or we’re at a standstill, etc.

Recently, we had town officials and police officers join our grad committee call to let us know what restrictions we had for graduation…Every restriction. Essentially, we could have a virtual graduation or bust. Parades aren’t allowed because, and I quote, “Lamont said no,” and when we asked if we could meet with him to discuss further options, the answer was also no, and there is no appeal process for any sort of social restriction laws. None.

In that moment, I felt all of our voices being silenced.

You know who else felt that way? Every other school in CT, and many to most in the US; the board members of the PGP committee, every business declared non-essential, and so on. We are all working with restrictions.

Luckily, Lamont has now approved tightly planned, police-involved “processions”—don’t call it a parade, that’s still illegal in CT.

We are making the best out of this situation given the circumstances. I know this sucks for everyone, any age, and from any background—for some worse than others—but please, next time something is canceled due to this virus, don’t go pointing fingers at the schools, at the committee members, or anyone “in charge” because the reality is that right now, few are truly in charge, and we are working with what we’re given.

So if you think you have a problem with Wilton’s principal, or with the board members of PGP, consider that your problem comes from elsewhere.