Administration finally announced that graduation this year will be at the Coliseum, just like pre-COVID graduations. Seniors this year were definitely hoping for a return to normal.

“It feels like what people wanted,” graduation adviser Shem Malone said. “We have traditions that we try to pay attention to, but I always try to operate under the idea that we’re always doing something new and different.”

The graduation ceremony will be on June 11 at 7 p.m., followed by the Grad Party, a safe party for seniors to enjoy graduating before the summer starts. According to Malone, graduation is still in the planning stages, but organizers are doing their best to make this graduation a normal, post-COVID one that seniors and their families will remember.

“We try to take into consideration the Class of 2022,” Malone said, “and what makes you guys unique.”

Many students are excited to have a graduation where they can be honored, and people are also happy that their families can watch them graduate from high school.

“I think it’s exciting after spending so much time having to miss milestone events due to COVID,” senior Alayna Huque said. “I’m definitely excited because graduating high school and officially moving on to college is a huge deal and a big time in our lives, so I’m super happy to get to celebrate it normally.”

While seniors are excited for a more normal graduation, there is also the lingering worry that COVID will interfere with graduation.

“We’ve been through a lot of sudden changes due to various COVID-19 variants, so I don’t want to get too hopeful because it’s impossible to try to predict what the next few months will look like,” Huque said. “I hope everything continues to improve, although it might be a little overwhelming having everyone in one space because we’ve spent so much time being isolated.”