From Y2K to COVID-19: Still thankful for teachers 20 years later

The high school class of 2000, such as many generations before and after it, have had to adapt.

This rang true Saturday night as the Judson Senior High School Class of 2000 from Converse, Texas, celebrated its 20th reunion — virtually. That’s right some 80 former Rockets from around the globe gathered together for three hours catching up, laughing, playing trivia and enjoying special guest appearances from Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath and Boyz 2 Men’s Wanya Morris, just to name a few.

Event organizers rallied together for the “OG Millenials” and put on a spectacular event given the circumstances.

The high from gathering together for a brief moment in time continues on Facebook, which didn’t exist when we graduated. It’s addicting to scroll through seeing the then and now photos and reading the stories of heartache and triumph. It’s an impressive and diverse group of adults; there are fathers and mothers, engineers, nurses, doctors, veterans and teachers.

The time of reminiscing coupled with this time of Thanksgiving really highlighted how thankful I am to be where I am today. I typically start my day with thanksgivings, but this reunion was something special.

One Judson graduate, who actually exchanged her southern accent for an Australian one, explained that her love for science started in high school.

She is actually in an Australian lab right now researching coronaviruses and it will be her life’s work.

This reminded my of my own high school experience. My sophomore year of high school was rough. I wasn’t doing well and the school counselor recommended that I boost my GPA by choosing a journalism class as an elective because it was “an easy A.” It might have been a flippant statement, but I followed through and it changed my life. What followed was three years on the yearbook staff, one year as an editor, and then off to college. I do have to say, though, taking statistics and media law in college for my journalism degree was anything but an easy A.

Back to the reunion: there were several of us thanking our teachers for what they brought into our lives. Thankful for those who showed up every day who were patient and understanding. Even through the struggles, I have some amazing stories of how teachers all the way back in elementary school shaped my life for the better. I continue to stay in touch on Facebook with my journalism teachers and professors.

So in this time of virtual learning and teaching, know that by showing up on a computer screen can still be a positive impact for these students who will remember your love for teaching. They’ll remember the challenges, the struggles and the perseverance.

Thank you for showing up and working hard for each student; our community, our world is better because of you.