University of Illinois Seniors Prepare to Graduate During a Pandemic
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Bells ring across the Main Quadrangle as seniors line up at Alma Mater to take graduation pictures by Altgeld Tower. It's graduation season, which means it's time for seniors to say goodbye to the campus they know and love, and start preparing for life outside of school.
Graduation usually means big ceremonies, walking across a huge stage in a cap and gown, and an entire graduating class throwing up their caps in celebration. This year, however, the Class of 2021 will be graduating during a global pandemic, and that has definitely changed things.
For senior Miku Morikuni, the pandemic has kept her and her family apart, and in this case, it's keeping her father from attending her graduation.
"My dad is still working, and a lot of work has returned to in-person in Japan, so it's logistically difficult for him to take three weeks off from work, even if he were only in the states for a week for my graduation," said Morikuni, "He would have to go back to Japan and quarantine for two weeks and that was just logistically very difficult."
The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign has a plan to celebrate its graduating seniors, however, it's not the graduation most seniors started college expecting. Commencement ceremonies will be virtual, and there will be private, individual opportunities for stage crossings available for interested seniors.
Despite these efforts made by the university, some graduates believe that it isn't enough.
"I kinda feel like the university is more trying to do the bare minimum to placate people instead of actually trying to do something to celebrate if that makes sense," said Tyler Schwartzoff, a senior in Chemical Engineering.
He's not the only graduating senior who feels this way. Many students wish to be doing more to celebrate their commencement, and some were even hoping for a celebration in Memorial Stadium, the usual venue at which commencement celebrations are held.
Proper celebrations aren't the only obstacle posing an issue for graduates. Despite predictions from the National Association of Colleges and Employers projecting an increase of 7.2% in hiring from the Class of 2021 than the Class of 2020, many students are still struggling to find employment.
Jenny Neef is the Director at the Career Center at the University of Illinois, and she says that students are in a difficult situation.
"You know those industries that have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, you know it is going to be hard for students to find jobs in those industries," said Neef.
She says that some students may have to consider employment in different areas than they initially planned.
Some students, like Schwartzoff, think that the university could have done more to assist students struggling with their job search.
"Obviously they can't fix the job market, but they could've done a better job cause in the past, university resources have been fine because there were so many jobs," said Schwartzoff, "but I think they definitely should've expanded that."
Commencement celebrations at the University of Illinois are set to start this week, and despite all that students have had to go through, they say they don't regret anything about their college experiences.
