It’s OK to be upset right now.

The CA state governor Gavin Newsom formally announced on March 17 that schools are highly likely to be closed for the rest of the school year, jeopardizing academics and activities like sports and club events for nearly 6.1 million students throughout the state. Additionally, an updated FUHSD email sent on March 25 confirmed that school will remain closed until May 1. 

Everything feels uncertain, foreign and out of place. The word ‘cancelled’ became a common theme in conversations and laments. Days merge together to become a regurgitated cycle of sleep, eat and repeat. One day, we were making plans for a weekend in San Francisco, the next we were stuck at home, wrapped in blankets and chatting through Zoom.

The past two weeks have felt like a long month. It seemed like every day, another event we were looking forward to was shut down. First was Variations’ trip to Italy. Then, El Estoque and El Valedor’s conference in New York. Then the combined proms, cancellation of the spring sports season and finally, school’s closure. In between all these events, most students lost something they were looking forward to.  

As COVID-19 continued to rapidly spread across the country, disappointment, anger and anxiety established themselves within us. Anger seemed misplaced amongst the chaos generated by this pandemic because it felt wrong to place blame on a life threatening virus in response to the cancellations of high school events.

But for many of us, this may have been the last time we experienced something at high school –– to be innocent, naïve teenagers cushioned by the bubble we live in before stepping out into the real world. Events like senior ball and graduation, which we have been anticipating since we were freshmen, were robbed from us. The COVID-19 crisis has unfortunately interrupted these dreams.

Our feelings are valid.

It is possible to be frustrated by the cancellation of senior trips and national level competitions and still be empathetic towards those suffering at the hands of the virus. College trips and information sessions have been cancelled, further intimidating the looming May 1 deadline. Just because we are angry does not mean we are insensitive. Yes, the fact that  events are canceled is not as threatening as the crisis that the world is going through. However, that doesn’t mean that they are not important. So it’s OK to push any feeling of insensitivity regarding COVID-19 away just for a bit because we shouldn’t feel guilty nor trivialize our emotions. As we embrace our disappointment or even cry out of frustration, we validate our own emotions. This way, we can remain in touch with our own empathy which allows us to extend it to the current COVID-19 pandemic.