By: Regina Jean-Noel for Roberta Pellant Consulting
It goes without saying that 2020 will be a year that we will never forget having faced the first pandemic of our time. Spring 2020 will be particularly branded into the minds of University seniors who were hoping to cross the stage this spring. This monumental milestone is one that we have all been preparing and working towards for over the last 4-6 years. From 3-hour lectures at 8 am, to group meetings lasting into late hours of the night, Commencement would be the day all these accomplishments and experience would come full circle, but with the continued spread of COVID-19 into April, the day is no longer clear. Students are facing overwhelming hardship with the haste and unexpected removal from campus and transition into an online learning environment. Seniors are already susceptible to the loss of motivation during their last few months known as ‘senioritis’, but the implementation of online classes has amplified these symptoms. Unlike ‘senioritis which is brought on by excitement this current loss of motivation stems from fear and anxiety of something much heavier.
For some, online classes are a new experience. The transition is causing a learning curve and difficult adjustment. It is even harder to find motivation to perform well in classes and continue at the same rate of productivity while working at home. Universities have been able to navigate the disruption that COVID-19 has caused, by providing class lectures through video- conferencing services like Zoom and collaborative software like Microsoft Teams. This adjustment does give seniors the opportunity to experience what communication may be like in the professional world. Many of the organizations that we will inevitably enter after graduation use video conferencing to interact with clients and peers that are outside their area and across the world. This is a new skill that students will be able to add to their resumes, showing employers their resilience during this period of crisis. They will understand how the Class of 2020 stayed hopeful for the world post-COVID-19 by continuing to apply and interview for jobs and carry on with graduate school plans.
Outside of the academic changes that COVID-19 has caused to all students and universities across the world we are also facing emotional distress and a loss of social identity. Although education is the primary purpose of college, it is not the only important aspect. By your senior year your extracurricular activities and friendships on campus have become just as much of your daily life as classes. These clubs and events are what make up most of your college identity. Many are finally able to hold leadership positions in their organizations and have the privilege to dorm with best friends in the best apartments the university has to offer. Senior Spring is a very sentimental time and the last memories that the class is able to make together. Due to the implication of the spread of COVID-19, seniors have been robbed of these activities and memories. At Bentley University these events would have included the senior boat cruise, commencement ball, and the highly anticipated Bahamas trip. Instead of joyfully preparing for these moments surrounded by my friends turned family and the support system that campus offers, seniors are anxiously waiting at home for what the world will have to offer post-COVID-19. The uncertainty in the length of this crisis and the lingering destruction it will leave in its path is a fearful thought for seniors preparing to enter the corporate world for the first time. There is a loss in motivation and heightened sense of anxiety and fear with the global crisis we are facing all while at the same time trying to complete courses successfully in order to graduate and land a job. Similar to students of the Class of 2008, the Class of 2020 will likely be graduating into a recession and the worst economy since the Great Depression making finding a job and securing our own economic stability all the more difficult.
As we all work through this pandemic together by taking precautions to remain healthy and practicing social distancing please remember to check on members of your community who are in the Class of 2020 (we are not okay). I would encourage you to send a note of endearment and motivation to those you know graduating this May as we finish classes. Although come May there will be no reading out of names by the Deans or students crossing the stage with friends, family and loved ones cheering them on, it will still be a special time. We deserve to feel this accomplishment and be recognized now more than ever.
Thankfully, Bentley University has made the decision to postpone commencement ceremonies until the end of August to allow for the Class of 2020 to celebrate one last time and not settle for a ‘virtual graduation’ as other universities have opted to do. Degrees will still be conferred on May 16 allowing for students to continue to apply for jobs and/or graduate school as we move forward into an uncertain future.