One week ago, we were supposed to be dressed in oversized robes, with so many pieces of regalia around our necks we would be suffering from strained muscles for weeks.
It didn’t happen, for so many good reasons.
But that doesn’t mean our graduation meant nothing.
To the students who are the first in their family to graduate from college or high school,
To the students who paid their own way through college,
To the students who lost out on jobs or opportunities,
To the students who had to move out of their Greek homes unexpectedly, cutting some of their last memories short,
To the students who can’t see their parents, grandparents or family at risk of infecting them,
To the students who had to go back to jobs they should have left behind years ago to make ends meet,
To the students who presented yearlong projects across dropped Zoom calls,
To all those students and all of you, we are going to be OK.
While finding out you officially graduated from college after getting out of the shower via VandalWeb’s final grades doesn’t have the same touch as walking across the Kibbie Dome stage, it will have to do for now.
I am in no way complaining or comparing the suffering of not wearing my graduation cap — which would have looked horrible with my bangs — to real suffering going on in this world due to COVID-19.
But that doesn’t mean our hard-earned achievements don’t matter, they do. And while life might be on pause right now, we are still college graduates. That is no small feat, as my cousin who graduated from UI two years ago told me.
Now that I’ve told you all how great you and I are for graduating, let me now give you a piece of advice from my quarantined home to yours.
If your life isn’t what you expected right now, and you missed out on opportunities, don’t stress. Don’t beat yourself up. Don’t fall into the idea of needing to be the best. We’re in a freakin’ pandemic. It’s OK to not apply for 100 jobs per week. It’s OK to sleep in. It’s OK to stay in your bed and watch nothing but Grey’s Anatomy or Tiger King.
You will get your dream job, dream house, dream everything soon enough. The world just needs a little time and it could use a little love. So, take that big college-educated brain of yours and when you feel up to it, do something — socially distanced of course — for your neighbor, friend or post officer.
Love,
A stugglin’ college graduate
Alex Brizee can be reached at arg-opinion or on Twitter @alex_brizee