Last year, I wrote out a speech to the Class Of 2019, you can read that here. Now, only a year later, holy shit how the world has changed. It’s pretty fucking crazy here in 2020, ain’t gonna lie. And one thing really came to mind (with the slow realization that my kid isn’t going back to school for this year) was the poor seniors of 2020. I feel bad that they won’t get a true graduation and post high school summer. Which was quite honestly one of my favorite summers ever. I was on the Twitter and I came across this…

Unpopular opinion: high school wasn't that great and you're not actually missing anything by not having a graduation. Sorry, 2020, but its true.

— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) April 15, 2020

Yeah. That hit me in the feels. Alot of memories came flooding back and I felt very bad for this woman. Mostly cause if you can’t make some real connections by senior year, well, you might be doing it wrong. My freshman year orientation of HS, the speaker said that the next “4 years would be best of your life”. I thought to myself if this is as good as it get’s well, I’m fucked. So the tweet is half right, high school isn’t that big of a deal. It’s not that great, but graduation & that summer before college, that, well THAT was fun.

I’m not sure how other high schools do it, but in our small town we got out 2 weeks before the rest of the school. We did a senior trip post high school which included the organizer getting so sick, that while in the van going to our destination, she puked out the window and shit herself simultaneously. It was a fucking sight to see. I was allowed to smoke in the van after that.

We had a “Till We Meet Again” dance before graduation, we all ended up pre-gaming at a park before the dance. It was a mess of schnapps, warm light beer, cigarettes and of course the finest marijuana you could find. I remember taking a walk through the woods with our crew, sparking a J and coming out the end of that trail high as a motherfucka. The majority of kids at that dance were fucked up on something. It was a blast. The chance of early summer hook ups were excellent and we were all trying to get that last fling in before leaving for college.

For me, I was in a shitty cover band and we got together to practice and basically just smoke cigs. I refused to get a job that summer, took a stand. But then something unexpected happened, some guys opened a venue for underage kids with a “smart bar”. I read about it in the paper and drove my ass over there to apply for a security job. Upon seeing the dudes that were there to work security I knew I had no chance, but they hired me on as a smart bartender. I trained there and managed to get my shitty band on the bill for the opening Saturday night going between bigger and better local acts. We only played 3 songs (I Am One / Undone / SilverFuck) but we killed it and we were booked right away for another show.

That club was fun and being a trusted guy in that place was good for me. I could work door, help on security, but the stories from the older guys was a blast. Learned about a girl in my class who had done anal. Heard stories about getting high on whatever, drinking, run-ins with the law. Tattoos. Just an interesting time.

When I wasn’t working (which was very little TBH) I was just hanging with friends. No huge responsibilities. Just getting our stuff together for our dorm room, smoking joints, hanging out, and just enjoying one anothers company.

All my friends were in a relationship (as was I) and even though the ending wasn’t the best, it was fun to have that experience before you left everything you knew for your whole life. You thought maybe against all odds you’d be the ones that stayed together, but yeah. Ha.

I’ve had great summers since, many in college, but that summer always stands out. Cause even though I was in the same town the next summer, I had a real “fucking” job and the relationships had changed.

So to the seniors of 2020, I feel bad for ya. I’m sorry the world is so fucking crazy right now that you don’t get a traditional graduation or post high school summer. Take this time to do some thinking. Do some reading. Years from now you’ll wish you had this free time. Trust me. Life WILL get back to normal, or at the very least return to a new normal. The timing sucks, but trust me, there will be other summers. More parties. We’ll be rooting for ya.

-MSS