Going down in history: The class of 2020

When I was in about middle school, the local television station in my town started a feature — it was called "The Class of 2000." Students who would be part of that class were interviewed years ahead of their graduation. The station followed this class throughout the years leading up to the turning of their tassels.It was seen as a sort of a turning point — while the students in this particular class were no different than those before or after (this Class of 2001 graduate is in that category!), they were seen as a special class — an affirmation of a new era, most notably in the era of technology.Exactly 20 years later, another group of students with a phonetically pleasing graduation year also did not choose their fate. It chose them.Make no mistake, the Class of 2020 will go down in history in the midst of another turning point — the COVID-19 era.I've been impressed with the emphasis on education since I've moved to Ohio. Communities are passionate about their schools, their students and their extra-curricular activities. Everywhere you go, you see school colors. Athletics are a way of life, but so are so many other school groups. There is passion, and there is pride.There are so many groups of people whom I feel sorry for because of the effects of this pandemic. At the top of the list are those whose health has been negatively affected by it and those who have lost their jobs through it. But to me, the Class of 2020 represents the "What could have been. What should have been" the best.This group started the year with endless hopes and dreams. The fall was filled with all that is great about senior year — homecomings, football games, pep rallies. As winter set in, these students inevitably began to contemplate their future — every class, every game, every time hanging out together had a finite nature to it. They were on the downslope, with prom, graduation and a sense of freedom and possibility on the horizon.Then, as students were happily going about the last third of their year, it hit. At first, the coronavirus seemed far away. It was something very real and scary, yet abstract. Most couldn't have predicted the sudden shift from abstract to very real, with a sweeping number of shutdowns and life changes taking place in just weeks. Schools across the country were shut down as districts shifted to online learning on a dime. At first, it was just for a couple of weeks. Then, the spring athletic season was canceled. Then, the school year, prom, gymnasium graduations. All of a sudden, those last-hurrah moments of a senior's life were taken away.Any senior absolutely has the right to be upset about how all of this went down. It's not fair.However, I am convinced that no graduating class in recent history has learned as much about resiliency as the Class of 2020. It has taken me years to learn about the success, failure and resiliency that this class has literally had to master in just months.I am fully convinced this class will forever be followed, and we'll see amazing things come out of it.No group of people understands the loss of the little things like the Class of 2020. The sun shining on the field during a softball game. The heart-to-hearts in your favorite teachers' classroom. The strange, prideful feeling of walking into the school and walking out of the school on that last day.This pandemic has taught us all to appreciate the little things, both what we've been given and what we've lost.From what I see from the Class of 2020, this group is frustrated about how things have gone, but they are making the most of it. The innovation schools have shown in ways to still honor their graduating seniors has been impressive. The students are hanging in there, and are still hopeful for the present and future.History shows there is a tie that binds those who have success in any corner of the world — adversity. Look at any leader's story, most if not all come with a level of adversity that focuses and fuels success. The Class of 2020 has already checked this one off the box. This is not to say that high school seniors have already gotten their quota of adversity, and it will be green pastures moving forward. That's not how it works. However, this group of young adults will be better equipped to handle life's curveballs than most.I'm proud of the Class of 2020. We've all sacrificed something during this COVID-19 era, some more than others. I'm fully convinced The Class of 2020 will turn their sacrifice into future good, and students will become teachers as we all will learn something from them along the way. Jeremy Speer is the publisher of The Courier in Findlay, The Advertiser-Tribune in Tiffin and the Review Times in Fostoria. He can be reached at jeremyspeer@thecourier.com or jspeer@advertiser-tribune.com.