Graduating Virtually

It’s not the way anyone probably would have preferred to commemorate our year-long program but a ceremony for those of us part of the Magazine, Newspaper and Online Journalism program and its undergrad counterpart was held via Zoom and it was unique. I think it is safe to say most students have never graduated via video before. To have multiple encouraging words from alums of the tracks leaving encouraging words for us made it more intimate. Personally, I liked it because it got to the point. The pomp and circumstance are nice but at the end of the day everyone just wants to celebrate and keep it short. It works better that way because students can pay attention and really take in what the speaker is saying, or so only one can hope at least I tried to.

For me, I felt inspired by seeing everyone in the meeting and sharing that moment with my classmates was just a moving time as it signified that our book was soon ending. It was hard to believe just how much we had done and been through in nearly one year. Even though, the graduate students in the class still have a semester to go it seemed appropriate that a celebration had still occurred. Why? Because it means that we have survived and thrived. It also meant it was a chance to celebrate with the undergrads which was nice given that we do not always get to share many united experiences.

I think the comforting words by alumni each encouraging us to remain hopeful while also doing what we needed to do to take care of ourselves now. I felt the genuine sense of support from the alums many, who graduated in almost equally troubling financial times like after 9/11 and during and immediately following the Great Recession. For myself it reminded me that this could work out well for all of us. The main reason being it is a time to take a break. A chance to simply be still. The future is still so unknown because this virus is still unknown. So, it makes me think, why not make this work for us? Why not take some time to simply be quiet for a little while? Why not take a moment to really figure out what the next steps should be and to simply take some time to rest? It just makes sense, all of us, my entire class has been put through the ringer, and so have those seniors. To take some time to let the mind and body rest and an opportunity to see what we would do if given the opportunity to do the thing we really want to do. It is an exciting time in that way.

Seeing the video put together that involved the graduating class surprisingly made me feel emotional. I think it was just the reality of the moment, graduating was no longer this far off thing. It was happening and that meant this crazy, intense, and exciting time had occurred and it was ending. Just like that it was over but what moved me was the creativity of my fellow classmates. It reminded me about what drew me to the school in the first place, a place to learn from others and be inspired by their creativity. It made me feel so blessed to be associated with people that I admired because they were willing to try stuff and like myself were into telling stories and believed in what they were doing.

While nothing beats an in person graduation for an online version it was not bad at all.