Graduating Under Quarantine
UVic convocation ceremony
After five long but adventure-filled years at UVic my degree is finally coming to an end.
I applied to graduate the second that I could as I was so excited for this accomplishment and couldn’t wait to get the ball rolling.
Don’t worry, I certainly wasn’t trying to rush through my last year. I wanted to savor every bit of it, a year of firsts and lasts, but it still managed to fly by.
Now with only a bit longer to go until my degree is officially over, we are all in the middle of a quarantine, and there are a couple things we have had to adjust to.
Graduation certainly is not what I expected it would be. Instead of a cap and gown, it’s more likely in pajamas and on the couch.
Even though June’s ceremony is postponed there will be other chances to attend a ceremony, so there is still a cap and gown photo op in sight. But if it doesn’t happen my family and I will be able to celebrate in our own way whether in person or online if travel is still restricted. The most important thing is that we are all doing our part to stay home and take care of one another from a distance. Zoom grad party anyone?
(Check the Ceremonies and Events website for convocation updates.)
My heart goes out to those who may be the very first to graduate in their family or perhaps won’t be able to attend a ceremony at a postponed date.
I hope that everyone who is graduating is able to celebrate all their hard work in the way that works best for them at this time. We can all try to look forward to what lies ahead, a new chapter about to begin and a set of challenges that are going to shape each of us in unique ways.
It is nerve-wracking enough entering a career or the job search or discovering just what the next steps are, let alone during such a difficult time for so many, but I believe it can only make us more imaginative and innovative with how we move forward.
Not to mention it will make an interesting story of how you had to leave university and look for a job during a health crisis, not too far off from some of our parents or grandparent’s stories of hiking five miles to and from school uphill both ways.
But no matter what, we did it Class of 2020! Take pride in how far you have come, and step strongly into the next chapter, whether in shoes or in your house slippers.
