Quarantine has people missing hang outs, meetings, parties and all sorts of plans they had. Notably, a lot of people are far from happy about how things are being handled. Because of lockdown, people are professing angrily that they’re missing haircuts, parties and more.

But are these things really that important? Have we ever thought about the real important. once in a lifetime events that have all been cut short due to the pandemic? We’re sure you’d hate it if you had to cancel a wedding or a graduation ceremony over this.

Though that’s reality for countless people around the world

At least weddings can be rescheduled or postponed easily. But graduations? Those would really suck to miss. Students always look forward to the day they have their hard work honored, with all their friends with them.

The students of Poplar Spring High School had to face that very thing. Forced to stay at home to avoid the grim consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the price paid for their safety is their graduation day.

Attending school for 3 years only to not get the chance to graduate at a ceremony with your friends must feel like a punch in the gut

Rationally, the bigger threat of COVID-19 really is worth avoiding. It may seem like it isn’t worth it when the danger hasn’t gotten to you yet, though. But trust the experts, you really don’t want to take your chances with this one.

Poplar Spring’s students were without a graduation ceremony to attend, and naturally the students were incredibly sad, as was the school. The wait for a graduation isn’t the only thing that makes it significant. It’s also remembering it when you’re older, as a very important day in your youth.

Of course, the school didn’t want the students to think that they’d just forget. As a result, thought of a way to remind the students that their efforts and hard work were still being recognized.

Farcia West, the school principal, worried about this just as much as us. Honestly, that’s not surprising since she’s the one who witnessed all of them make their journey through their high school years.

She got in contact with the school photographer, and requested that they print out larger versions of the high schoolers’ portraits. What was she going to use them for?

They set eyes on the campus driveway, and soon it’d become apparent what they needed the large student portraits for. From there, they lined the entire driveway with the photos. All the way, from start to end.

It’s a grand idea for what should have been a grand occasion

The ceremony couldn’t take place, but people driving through could still see all the students who deserve their recognition. No virus was going to stop this school from honoring its students.

Every student who was set to graduate is represented here. Drive along and you can see every single one. The whole length of the driveway is the yearbook and graduation album now. It’s unfortunate that it had to be this way, but doesn’t change the fact that it’s a heartwarming gesture from the school.

People adored the idea itself and the finished execution of it. So much that people drive from other states just to see it, as if paying pilgrimage. Even when they don’t have children who attend the school.

“People who don’t even have students here, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi… have driven over just to drive through and see and honor our students” – Farcia West says

Nonetheless, the students were getting their credit and recognition, virus or none

Farcia West was quick to empathize with the students and explain her thought process

“Instead of remembering I didn’t get the end to my senior year I wanted, they’ll remember my picture was right there and my grandma saw it, and my dad saw it, and my mom saw it. I got my picture made by my banner and they’ll bring back a smile to their face instead of an empty spot”

Proms, graduations, weddings, plans with friends. The list of things upended and cut short by the pandemic is a long one. The cancelled graduation at Poplar High School isn’t the first, and it certainly won’t be the last.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. Many people have already convinced themselves that things are blown out of proportion. That’s only because our efforts have prevented the worst from happening, and we’re incredibly lucky!

In fact, it’s easy to think that nothing bad can happen when nothing has happened yet. We take for granted the measures and efforts that prevent the worst from happening. So if you ever worry about all the stuff you’re missing because of quarantine, you can at least be thankful for how lucky you are to be safe and alive as a result.

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Source: [Christian Motivation/YouTube, WTVY]