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Student-athletes from diocesan high schools head to college this fall. 

To the Graduating Class of 2020, It seems that every high school graduation I have attended has included a speaker making sweeping statements such as “What a long strange trip it’s been” or quoting Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, The Places You’ll Go.” In 2020, I agree with the first statement and am uncertain how to respond to the second. Six months ago, the expectation was that graduation would be a time to gather and celebrate with friends and families. With high school behind you, the next chapter of your life – college for some, different adventures for others – would begin in a few short months. However, COVID-19 turned the world upside down. 

St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax senior class has adapted a lot these past few months. They were patiently awaiting many events including prom, Baccalaureate Mass and graduation. Since it’s Paul VI’s last year in Fairfax before moving to Loudoun, the seniors also were looking forward to spending their final months of high school in the building they had called home for the past four years. The coronavirus situation brought all of these hopes to a sudden halt. 

In a few weeks, I was supposed to lead a group of pilgrims from Baltimore to Oberammergau, Germany, with my husband, Chris Gunty, associate publisher and editor of the Catholic Review magazine. The odd coincidence — not being able to visit a town literally put on the map by a plague — is not lost on me.