UPDATED Monday, Aug. 3, 2020, 6:53 p.m. ET

It was anything but a typical Thursday morning in March for Andrews Academy senior, Emma Hamel. She woke up late, threw on her least favorite shirt, and headed to school. Later that day in assembly, the staff announced they would be shutting down the school for the next three weeks due to the pandemic. Little did she know that this would be the last time she would see many of her friends or that she and her classmates wouldn’t be celebrating the end of high school in typical fashion.

As weeks apart turned to months, Hamel turned to music to escape the hurt of a senior year derailed by the novel coronavirus. She began penning the words to the song, “Standing by My Side.” 

The end is finally here, 

but it’s not clear where this goes. 

I know, I understand. 

It’s not how I planned for it to go.

Shortly before graduation, the school contacted her with the news that the talent for their senior class night had canceled and asked to use one of her songs. Hamel informed them that she was in the process of writing a song about the abrupt end of their school year. She was initially nervous to share the original piece with her classmates since she is more on the reserved side, but quickly finished up the song and sent it in. 

What happened next was beyond her wildest expectation. Her song was discovered by local and Canadian news outlets. Canadian high schools in British Columbia, Alberta, Toronto, and in the Maritimes asked to use the song in their graduation ceremonies. Within three weeks of uploading the song to her YouTube channel, there were 161,000 views; and total number of views has surpassed 200,000. “It was really unexpected and really overwhelming,” said Hamel. 

Comments ranged from: “This is such a beautiful song! It really captures what we’re all feeling. Thank you!” to “I’m a grade 12 from Alberta and came across this on Facebook this morning. Thank you for your words, your strength, your talent. I feel I needed to hear this this morning. I’m typing in tears. I will be sharing this with my grad class. It’s so hard to find the words to describe how this all feels for us so this hits close to the heart. Thank you.”

Hamel was blown away by the response she received. “It’s just so heartwarming seeing all of the comments under the video and all of these people pouring out their hearts and talking about what their last day was like and how it was hard for them.”

For the self-confessed shy girl who hardly said a word in class, this affirmation from people around the world who have heard her song gives confirmation that God will reward us when we reveal the gifts God gives His children. “God uses people in different ways and I'm glad that I've been able to use my talents in the way that I have to bring people together.”  

As Hamel continues to let God guide her musical journey, she encourages people to use these times to become more united with one another. “I just hope people remember that we're all going through this together and will come out of this stronger.”

Click here watch a video on YouTube of Hamel singing “Standing By My Side."

—Christiana Michel is a rising sophomore at Andrews Academy in Berrien Springs, Michigan; this article was originally published on the Lake Union Herald website.