Walking across the stage and being acknowledged for years of hard work on graduation day is every high schoolers dream, but there’s a possibility of that not happening for this year’s seniors. 

Teachers and administration are still looking at all the options regarding graduation and other senior-related events, said Director of Student Activities Bill Wheeler.

“There are many factors to consider, and, as you know, the situation/outlook with the coronavirus changes day-to-day,” said Wheeler. 

School officials are having many meetings about these things coming up soon, and we will hopefully have a better idea of things in a week or two, said Wheeler.

Nationwide, many states have already announced that graduation would be cancelled this year,  and the Hawaii Department of Education released a memo stating it would decide about public school graduation by April 15.  

On graduation day, Mid-Pacific seniors would stand on a stage on the soccer field in front of their family and friends, ready to start their new lives ahead of them. 

“Having this stripped away from us is definitely disappointing,” said senior Nolan Tanji.

I remember since freshman year seeing all of the seniors on the stage during graduation and thinking, “I can’t wait to be up there in just a few years, ” he said. 

“Then, it gets surreal as we count down from 100 days, then 90, then 80. But now, it’s possible that it’s just going to be gone,” said Tanji. 

The chance of not having a graduation ceremony affects all seniors, and not sharing this memorable moment with my class brings lots of  emotions, said senior Emmalee-Rose Chai. 

“Some of us started our journey here at MPI together from pre-school, creating everything possible memory we could and have dreamt about graduating together,” said Chai. 

“At this point, I will honestly do anything to walk on the stage,” said Tanji.