The class of 2020’s senior year has essentially been cancelled due to a pesky virus, but we shouldn’t dwell on the unfortunate events that we’re in, and rather look at all that we’ve accomplished.

As a senior myself, I’ve had my fair share of cancellations, disappointments, and grief due to this catastrophic event. I thought of all the fun events that my siblings talked about in their years at Bingham. I wondered if Prom and the Senior Dinner Dance would inevitably get shut down. I got hyped for graduation, and I imagined how having my name called to receive my diploma would have felt so good. I dwelled far too much on all the stuff that I would never get to do, and I never looked back at what I did do.

When I was but a mere sophomore, I had no idea what I was doing, and there were so many people I didn’t know. As a senior, having met and learned so much about those in my graduating class, I realized something. I realized that, even though we’re facing one of the worst pandemics of the modern world, we still find a way to be connected through text messages, social media, Zoom meetings, and just overall support of each other. That’s why I truly believe there’s no group out there like Bingham’s seniors, and I wouldn’t want to graduate with anyone else. When I walked the halls of Bingham, I saw so many familiar faces, whether that be an SBO, or some kid that sat on the other side of my history class, and it brought a sense of community to the school. Events like football games and sitting in assemblies raising money for a little girl to go to Disneyland show me that Bingham has a unique spirit and a light. 

Now Bingham’s hallways are empty, and the classrooms are dark. Melvin the Miner is nowhere to be found. The future is uncertain for us, and for some of us, it’s a little scary. But there is one thing I do know: We’ll always remember the blue and the white, and faces so tender and dear. We’ll always remember the stars in the night that shine on our campus so clear. We’ll always remember the laughs and the smiles and the struggles, the sorrows and tears. 

These words have never rang truer to me than in these strange times. So, to the class of 2020, here’s to you, the athletes and the mathletes, the SBOs and the occasional no-shows, the tall and the small, and though we may travel o’er many strange miles, we’ll always remember, in May and September—Bingham High as our happiest years.