Story by Kimberly Hsueh
Staff Writer
Illustration by David Sohn
Associate Design Editor
Many in South Pas have been forced to discontinue their celebrations as the coronavirus pandemic rages on. As South Pasadenans continue to face quarantine, many have found different ways to celebrate birthdays, Mother Day’s, and other events, including a virtual prom.
With social distancing in mind, people have driven to their friends’ house, honked their horns, and held signs. While remaining in their cars, they talk to each other from a safe distance, wishing him or her a “happy birthday.” Some families have bought cakes, ingredients to make dinner, or favorite dishes from a restaurant.
“To celebrate my mom’s birthday, we got takeout from her favorite restaurant and brought it home. By summer, I’m hoping the stay at home order will be lifted. but if it’s not, we’ll continue to celebrate the special events in our lives social-distance friendly as we have been,” junior Carissa Park said.
On Wednesday, June 3, administration also planned its own drive-through graduation and a virtual ceremony. Seniors drove through the SPHS parking lot, entering from the Lyndon gate and exiting onto Fremont Avenue, and received their last goodbyes from Principal Janet Anderson.
“It’s hard to accept that all of our hard work and long nights won’t be recognized through a traditional graduation, and that the last time that we’ll all be gathered in one place will be separated by cars,” graduating senior Ines Yang said. “However, we’ve accomplished so much and have come so far to let the details of our graduation ceremony taint our achievements.”
In hopes to send the seniors off properly, school administration and ASB collaborated to help them celebrate the end of the year through social media. Throughout April and May, ASB frequently posted edits combining the seniors, their schools, and their majors, on their class Instagram. ASB also shared the seniors’ pictures of them with their chalk drawings, in place of the annual Chalk Day.
Some seniors have even gone out of their way to host their own virtual events, setting up prom through Zoom. Each person dressed up in their formal attires and danced the night away from their screens.
“On Saturday, my friends and I got ready for prom together over Zoom,” senior Teryn Kum said. “We even made a short video to commemorate our experience! I’m really glad we were still able to do something, even if it was unconventional.”
While in quarantine, many families found their own ways to celebrate through crafting cards to cooking breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Moreover, others have found ways to bring the whole family back together through Zoom.
“For Mother’s day, I made my mom delicious french toast with some fruit and homemade whipped cream. This whole social distancing thing is definitely a new way of living but I think it has brought my family closer together,” junior Alyssa Wong said.
L.A. is still expected to continue its stay-home-order until the end of July.
