With COVID-19 the world has been changed in many ways, some people who are being affected by this a lot are the class of 2020 graduating seniors. Different schools are handling graduation in different ways, but either way for all the graduates it is not how they thought it would be.
One of my best friends, Rachel, graduated from NC State this year. I met her my freshman year in my sorority and have loved her ever since! I was looking forward all year to doing most of the events that make senior year so special, such as formal. Most of all though I was looking forward to getting to sit in the crowd as she walked across the stage in her red gown to get her diploma. However, this all has been effected by COVID-19, so those things we were looking forward to did not all happen.
I sat down and interviewed Rachel to really help get a better idea just what the 2020 graduating seniors are feeling with all of these changes going on.
Where did you graduate from?
N.C State with a BS in Human Biology and minors in Genetics and Psychology.
What has it been like spending your last semester under quarantine amidst the coronavirus pandemic?
Academically, it wasn't much different because half of my coursework was already online and my professors were really great at converting their material to an online setting if needed. Socially, it was pretty hard if I'm being honest. I think we were all expecting to return to campus once spring break ended but that wasn't the case. Everything sort of crumbled while we were all on vacation. A lot of us didn't get to say goodbye. I think we all missed out on the end of year festivities but my class got robbed of our 'lasts' and we didn't get to tie up our experience at State with a nice red ribbon. I know we were all looking forward to events we still had planned for the end of the year so it was hard to accept that they weren't going to happen.
Of all of the things you missed out on because of quarantine, what is the hardest to accept?
The hardest thing to accept is the possibility that I might not even get to walk across the stage for graduation or have the big commencement ceremony. The university hasn't said much about their plans to hold the ceremony at a later date. And even if the class of 2020 gets that ceremony, it's going to be different considering we've already received our diplomas in the mail.
What has been a silver lining?
A silver lining would be spending more quality time with my family. My family dynamic is going to change soon as my sister heads to Maryland for graduate school so having a few months to spend at home again was good for all of us. And even though spending so much time together could be stressful at times, I'll never forget all of the game nights and movie marathons that we would never have done if we hadn't been quarantined.
What have you done to make up for some of the graduation traditions that you weren't able to do?
Little things such as making my dad hand me my diploma as if I was walking across the stage or my mom and I coming to Raleigh one Saturday to complete The Brick so I could get the Traditions Keeper medal. My family also celebrated and we took graduation pictures on the day I would have graduated!
What are your next steps, and have they been impacted by coronavirus?
My next steps were to start Physician Assistant(PA) school in the spring. However, my top choice has decided to no longer admit a new cohort for spring semester so that was a huge let down. In addition, most PA schools require shadowing hours, which I can't obtain because it's not considered "essential." On the bright side, I am fortunate enough to have a job in Raleigh getting clinical experience, but this job wasn't easy to come by! A lot of things are still unknown about where I'll be and what I'll be doing in the next couple of months and COVID-19 is playing a big role in those decisions.
What is the worst thing someone can say to a Class of 2020 graduate?
"At least you still got your degree." Yes, that's true, but it's not the same when you don't get to celebrate the years of hard work getting that degree with friends and family like you had planned. We didn't just spend four years working for this, we spent essentially our whole lives working towards this honor. And yes, the fact that we didn't get to celebrate doesn't undermine the hard work we all put in but I also feel that the celebration is a huge part of what makes getting the diploma so special.
What is one piece of advice that you would love to give to the class of 2021?
I know things are still up in the air right now as you start your senior year, but I genuinely hope you get the full experience. I encourage you to make the best of your time left in college. Don't take anything for granted because you never know when it's going to be your last time doing something or seeing someone.
What about the last few months do you think that you will remember most?
Besides how weird and scary it is to see people wearing masks all the time, I think I'll remember the effort put in to make things special for everyone. Not just graduations, but for birthdays, weddings, new babies, etc. We did what we could to still make these milestones special and memorable.
What would be your best advice to incoming freshman?
Take everything in stride. You have no idea how amazing, hard, transformative, and exciting the next couple of years are going to be and you don't know what the future holds. So do it all, take the risk, fail an exam (or class), go to the football games. All of it is part of the experience of being in college. The good, the bad, and the ugly are what makes up the best years of your life.
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