Graduation 2020 is one for the record books! For high school graduates in the country, 13 years of making and losing friends, success and failure, joy, and sorrow and more importantly “growing up” abruptly ended three months ago. For college graduates many years of difficult work came to an end with no formal celebration.

A term known only to medical professionals six months ago, Coronavirus took what every young adult has etched in their psyche. Walking across that stage while their name is being read before hundreds of people is a rite of passage celebrated by thousands of grown-ups before them. Graduation ceremonies are so predictable and so expected. But, like flipping a light switch, everyone’s life condensed to the confined space of home, wherever and whatever home might be.

When I think back, I realize that today’s high school graduates never knew what life was like before 9/11, just like a generation before them did not know what life was like before man walked on the moon. Or the generation before them did not know what life was like before the world fought the war to end all wars, World War II.

Today’s seniors, although missing out on the ceremonial hoopla of the last three months of their high school experience, might just be the lucky ones. You see, we have no idea what public education and the delivery of instruction will look like four months from now and possibly years to come. The graduating class of 2020 might be the last class that relied on person to person, face to face and human to human contact. However, I personally hope not.

Coronavirus has stolen from us all the we have built our society around, personal contact. For now, we must protect others by wearing masks in areas where we may come within the safety zone of six feet. We must maintain cleanliness by washing our hands and using hand sanitizer and sneeze into our sleeves. We have become conditioned to the possibility that everyone we interact with could be infected, even though they do not feel bad nor do they exhibit any symptoms. Asymptomatic is another term we have become familiar with and understand.

This is the world today’s graduates are stepping into. Young adults, strong and healthy, forced to succumb to the forces of evil spewing from a virus no one can see and our medical system and those who staff it are forced to deal with. Medical professionals not only provide much needed medical care, they also are forced to be the emotional support for those unfortunate victims who are hospitalized whose families are forced to stay away.

Other than the obvious threat to one’s health, Coronavirus or Covid 19 can also be an extreme inconvenience to those who have been identified as having come into contact with someone who tested positive. Realizing that just being within a defined presence of someone testing positive can put you in solitary confinement or quarantine for two weeks. At home, with family living in a separate room with your every action and movement being documented so the area where you have been can be disinfected.

So, here we are in Caroline County sending nearly 400 graduates to either higher education, the world of work or the military. With plans for their future so well prepared, whose execution is built on the foundation of a high school diploma, they are ready to take the first step into adulthood.

But now, because of this unprecedented disruption, the future they have been preparing for is changing. Those going away to college may find that away may be no farther than where they are now.

Those who have prepared for the world of work could be forced to sit on the sidelines until the 36 million unemployed in our country (as of May 15 and growing) get called back to work. And when they do, what will the world of work look like.

And, for those who have taken the oath to serve our country in the military, even the regimen of strict adherence to guidelines and behavior will have to be modified so that one person infected does not impact many others. We have seen the impact coronavirus can have to those whose mission requires close interaction with others. Coronavirus put the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt out of action.

How ironic to be a graduate in the year 2020? A term that means clear vision. How ironic to be graduating from high school at a time of such uncertainty and fear. And how ironic to be expected to stay true to your dreams for the future when the future is so unclear in many ways.

We can all learn lessons from graduation 2020. When faced with adversity, we must adapt. When faced with uncertainty, we must remain hopeful. And, when faced with challenges, we need to remain positive. And most importantly, we must rely on each other to get through this most challenging and frustrating situation with respect and support for each other.

These unrivaled times can make us stronger. Resilience is a strength that will get us through. Life is changing for all of us. Together, with love and support for our class of 2020, we will face these changing seas of life together. I have full faith and confidence that all our futures will be brighter because the class of 2020 is going forward with 2020 vision.

Mr. Rowe is Vice President/Lending for Bay Capital Mortgage Corp. with offices in Easton and Annapolis. He has lived in Caroline for his entire life and supports the county by volunteering in a variety of ways. He currently lives near Greensboro with his wife Jeanne and daughter Kelsey.