Ernesto Cappuccio, Reporter

16th February, 2021

Graduation looks a lot different this year than in previous years due to COVID-19. Arcata High School closed down in March 2020. Due to the pandemic, the Class of 2020 was unable to have a traditional graduation. 

For the Class of 2020, a car parade was held in which one would get out of their car and receive their diploma in front of the Fine Arts building; only one person was allowed at a time. The whole situation was similar to a fast food drive thru. “Do you want a diploma with that, please pull through.” It wasn’t a long line of graduates like normal, but that was the best that could be done with the circumstances at hand.

To get some insight on last year’s graduation, I first interviewed Jonah Moore, an alumni of Six Rivers High School. 

“Watching teachers talk about me was the most memorable part,” Moore said. He then stated his least favorite part about graduation was the fact that it was online. The conversation then shifted to how graduation would be this year. “As a result probably the same as last year,” Moore ranted, “an actual graduation is safe if the vaccine is released soon. I only had family come online. I couldn’t have an actual party.” (This interview was conducted before the roll out of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.)

This year is sure to be a weird graduation as well. It’s still uncertain whether we will go back later this semester. Even with teachers being vaccinated, and vaccinations potentially being open to the rest of the public by April. 

Coleman Barker, a senior at Arcata High told me that he just wishes the pandemic could be over. “I don’t know but I’m hopeful that we will go back this year… I hope to have a normal graduation but I can see us doing the same thing as last year,” Barker said. 

Senior Carly Lankarani also gave me her thoughts on this graduation situation.  “I think graduation is gonna be similar to last year,” Lankarani said. “I’m excited for graduation but it is sad that I’m not going to see my friends much anymore.”

We just have to see how everything is going before we have a graduation. I hope we can go back to school. Everybody is going stir crazy. Zoom learning is hard on WIFI.  People didn’t even get to meet their teachers this year in person, let alone other students. It was down right strange. Hopefully, the class of 2021 will graduate, with masks on, if we get to be together.