By Jordan Davidson | Reporter

Dear Class of 2020,

Wow! What a ride it’s been. Who would have imagined that our senior year would be cut short because of a virus? With online school in full swing and our original graduation date fast approaching, it’s not too difficult to think about how much these last few weeks have completely changed our lives.

First of all, it’s okay to be disappointed about school going online, graduation being postponed, and missing out on the last two months of those forever memories. Baylor is a university that is deeply entrenched in tradition and, since the beginning of our Baylor experience, we knew to regard every event, holiday and piece of campus as special. The buildup of our “lasts” is big which makes the cancellation, absence, or delay of traditions like Dia Del Oso, the Bearathon, Ring Out, Passing of the Key and graduation hurt so much.

We’ve come so far and it feels like something just took it all away. It’s sad that we won’t get to say all of the goodbyes that we wanted to say to our roommates, friends, classmates, professors, coworkers, bible study leaders, and Lady and Joy and that’s okay.

Despite our disappointment in our present circumstances, we are a historically resilient class. The semester before we arrived on campus, Baylor encountered tumultuous circumstances, but we still chose to come to Waco and join that Good Old Baylor Line. Despite the fact that we were probably a little naive and definitely scared, we survived living in residence halls, roommate conflicts, feeling homesick, walking across campus in 101 degree heat, late night study sessions in Club Moody, parking in the 8th St, lot during Sing season, a 1-11 football season, and navigating I-35 traffic and construction. We looked our problems in the face, and with the help of our classmates, faculty and staff, family, and friends, we carried on.

Because we persevered through the tough times, we were awarded with wonderful experiences that will stay with us and make history at Baylor forever. Not only did we witness the revival of our athletics program, but we also contributed much to Baylor’s academic achievement record, saw the nomination and induction of a wonderful new president and first gentleman, ran the Line, carried the homecoming torch, passed that one treacherous class, gave it all during Sing, drank too many Dr. Pepper Floats, watched the tree lighting at Christmas on 5th and heard our beautiful fight song played on the McLane carillon. We showed our grit and we were rewarded with 3.75 years at a university filled with loving, caring, and fun people.

My encouragement to all of us as the semester comes to a close: let’s finish strong. We should take pride in the fact that we are a class that has and will overcome these unfortunate circumstances. Do not be afraid to use what you’ve learned from your journey at Baylor and these unprecedented times and take them with you into your next season of life.