Opinion | Reflecting on a pandemic graduation

Alexander Ballard, class of 2020, political science, economics and history triple major

Thinking back to January 2020, I never could have expected the tragedy that would grip the world only two months later. Entering my final semester at Chapman, I was thinking ahead to graduation and starting law school in the fall. Everything seemed to be going well … until the new normal hit with the rise of the pandemic. Even when it was announced in March that Chapman would be transitioning to remote learning, I never imagined that would be the last time I stepped foot on campus. And I certainly never imagined that COVID-19 would imperil the traditional commencement ceremonies.

As the weeks went on, the reality set in; the class of 2020 would be ending our college experience online. What once was an exciting finish line to college became a peripheral uncertainty. 

As a commuter student, being at home wasn’t too different from my regular college experience. However, it certainly wasn’t within my normal routine of being on campus all day for classes, work and club meetings. While I was uncertain about the future of my on-campus job, I found a silver lining in this reduced workload: it allowed me to take a pause and reflect on my priorities at a time of crisis and change. 

Graduating during a pandemic was an experience I will never forget. While any other year’s graduating class will hopefully have the memories of walking across the stage, receiving their diploma and taking pictures with friends and family, 2020 was an experience to remember for completely different reasons.

I was beyond humbled to be recognized as the Cheverton Award recipient for the class of 2020, an honor that seemed unattainable to me. With this honor came the task of delivering a speech for the virtual commencement celebration. Yet, unlike another year where I merely had to focus on writing the speech, a virtual speech entailed more logistics. Was my background distracting? Is the lighting OK? Is the audio clear? I probably filmed at least 30 takes of my speech before it was perfect. 

Rather than celebrating with our friends as fireworks colored the sky, our virtual commencement ceremony was captured in a video — one that I was fortunate enough to watch at home with my family. In a matter of less than 30 minutes, we heard from university leaders, esteemed alumni and several graduating students. We had done it. We graduated. 

While graduating from college is a momentous occasion to be celebrated, I couldn't help but feel like the significance of the moment was diminished. Like others, I dreamed about walking across the stage to receive my diploma. In my mind, that moment was the finish line. To have that image suddenly altered because of the pandemic was an adjustment I had to accept. 

While I remain hopeful that the class of 2020’s achievements will be honored in a more formal way in the near future, our accomplishments are significant regardless of the form of the finish line. We not only graduated, but we finished during a semester that required us to be adaptable and a time that imposed challenges we had never seen before. Still, we prevailed. Because of this, I could not be more proud to be a graduate of the class of 2020. 

To the class of 2021, just remember that it is not how you graduate — it is the fact you are graduating that represents your perseverance, dedication and strength.