Winter Break Arrives with a Different Feeling This Year
All of the sudden it’s the middle of December and we’re off to our annual two-week Winter Break. In a year that has felt so painfully slow, we’ve somehow arrived at the holiday season, one that feels all too different this time around compared to years past.
Typically, as a precursor to the long-awaited break, the Grace community would gather in the chapel—singing holiday songs and sharing stories while saying goodbye to teachers and friends. But as we’ve gotten accustomed to, things work differently in 2020. So the traditional holiday chapel turned virtual in what Reverend Hummell referred to as a “goodbye to 2020” celebration, leading teachers and students to share what lessons they felt they would take from this difficult and unprecedented year.
Head of High School Mr. Mahabir concluded the virtual chapel by sharing his thoughts with the community, sending everyone off on what turned out to be the final day of school before the break:
“We say goodbye to 2020 and remember in our hearts what we and every human being on this planet has lived through in 2020 and we look forward to the new year with hope and possibility and a new horizon,” said Mahabir.
Though many have gotten used to leaving the cold for someplace warm this time of year, the soaring COVID-19 cases throughout the nation have forced most of the community to spend this holiday season sheltering with their immediate family in NYC. But as Mr. Mahabir stated, there is hope on the horizon, and with the first Americans beginning to receive vaccinations, we can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. But for now, all we can do is be patient and wait for that light to slowly get brighter.
The chapel was fittingly concluded with Reverend Hummell ripping up a 2020 calendar, symbolizing a coming end to the angst shared by the whole community over what was an excruciating year for so many. As we get set to turn the calendars to 2021, Mr. Rufer, Dean of the Class of 2022 said it best—“Goodbye 2020. See you never.”
The Grace Gazette wishes everyone a safe, happy, and healthy Winter Break, and looks forward to returning in the new year to provide our community with more brand new content!