Dear Oakton,

To put the world in perspective seems almost impossible. We are spiraling in an era of chaos: the force of a pandemic grinding all to a halt, our jobless rates dropping and leaving our economy battered beyond repair, the COVID-19 death poll reaching a monumental scale, and a movement of race that is fighting against our nation’s administration for justice. So much has happened in the tight span of 3 months, our nation is changing and evolving before our eyes. As we still look into the future for recovery and the prospect of our lives reverting to what they once were, we must take steps to ground ourselves in the turbulence of these moments. 

As a publication, we bear a responsibility to make sense of these current events and to chronicle these stories for our student body and administration. However, in light of the end of the year, we have a duty to our seniors to celebrate and highlight the end of their high school. 

We are deeply saddened by this seemingly unwritten end for the class of 2020. Seniors, we know that little can truly make up for the experiences you’ve lost, the feeling of walking across the stage, throwing your caps into the air, or the last moments with your friends and teachers. Thus, we have created a digital version of our otherwise “Senior Issue” to maintain the tradition of the Outlook’s last issue and honor the senior legacy. Seniors, we hope that you enjoy these stories as a celebration of your class, or at the very least, find a sense of solace in your accomplishments amidst this spiraling chaos. 

Despite a definite closure for the Class of 2020, many have united forces to create alternatives to graduation, in some, providing support through virtual graduations and in others, creating opportunities for celebrities to contribute their words. For Oakton at least, our admin has been hard at work to continue these traditions, be sure to read Ms. Lane’s statements here. 

To offer some parting sentiment, we have asked teachers to write letters to seniors, and for underclassmen, seniors share their own advice on enduring through your years ahead. In an attempt to highlight this year’s trailblazers, we’ve featured spring sport athletes. Finally, our senior map can be found here. Its interactive navigation through Prezi allows you to customize your scope into this year’s college destinations (please note, names have been omitted to protect the identities of our students). 

As we close out this letter and depart for the last time this year, we have some final thanks to issue. First and foremost, thank you to our amazing seniors. You all have contributed to our publication and class in your humility and leadership in ways that will never be forgotten. Thank you to Mrs. Snyder for always being a gentle and endlessly supportive force. Your kindness and the faith that you have in your students always inspires us. Thank you to our audience and readers for supporting our endeavors. And finally, thank you to all of the journalism writers this year. This year’s class was one of our best, our creativity, liveliness, and diligence crafted stories and spoke out against issues in ways that honored the unity of student voices. Once again seniors, congratulations on making it to the end. We are so happy to be celebrating you. To all else, we can’t wait to see you again next year on the newsstands. Well, we hope.

Best,

Emily Bach, Sahithi Jammulamadaka, & Ashleigh Tain