Pooja Shaunak

Reporter

For college students, 2020 and 2021 have been unprecedented years as the pandemic pushed schools to their limits, and social gatherings and yearly traditions were postponed or outright canceled. Seniors have given up many of the pivotal experiences of their final year in order to stay safe.

However, the seniors seem eager to graduate, although most say they will miss many things about Mississippi University for Women after graduation.

“My main goal is to graduate, and nothing is going to stop me from doing that, not even COVID,” said Bailey Stewart, a senior Accounting major.

This senior class will be the first since December 2019 to take part in a graduation ceremony, even though it will look very different. The graduation ceremonies for Nursing will be held on Friday, April 23. There will be four graduation ceremonies the next day, Saturday, April 24. While students will walk across the stage to receive diplomas, there will be no speeches or other parts of the traditional ceremony. Those are being pre-recorded and can be streamed by grads and their families. Graduates are only allowed three tickets for guests, and different majors will graduate at different times.

Stewart said her graduation will be at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, and that she will be attending graduation in person. She said she is excited to graduate, mainly because she will no longer have to worry about missing online assignments.

Another senior, Kelsey Damms, a Psychology major, is very thankful that The W is able to have an in-person graduation because all of her courses were moved online.

“I switched my major my junior year, and now that I am graduating, I still haven’t met any of my teachers online,” said Damms. “My favorite W memory is when my friends and I celebrated the end of the semester by drawing all over the sidewalk outside of our dorm at midnight.”

Unlike Damms and Stewart, Daniel Joyner, a senior Business Administration major with a focus in Marketing, will not be attending graduation in person and is trying to stay away from graduation all together. Joyner is just ready to graduate and get a job. He currently lives three hours away and doesn’t want to go through the trouble of getting a hotel room for himself and his family.

Another senior, Kelsey Cockrell, an Art major with a focus in graphic design, will be graduating in July and will attend the in-person ceremony. Cockrell says that COVID has impacted a lot of school events, such as Mag Chain, Social Club events and other traditions. However, she is still excited to graduate.

Cockrell hopes to work as a graphic designer and eventually get her master’s degree in Art therapy. Regardless of where life takes her, Cockrell said she will always remember the lifelong friends that she has made at The W.

Many seniors agree that they missed out on what would usually be big in-person traditions at The W for graduation.

“We didn’t really have events socially that we would have normally had for seniors — Oktoberfest, Homecoming, 100th Night, and a lot more. However, my grades went up, so that’s definitely a plus,” said Rikki Garcia, a senior Biology major. “I am looking forward to starting grad school and being able to study more closely to my profession.”

Garcia is not nervous about attending the in-person graduation ceremonies because at Mag Chain the guests and students being honored followed COVID-19 social distancing protocols, and everyone stayed safe.

Regardless of where the future leads them, all these seniors say they received a wonderful education from The W as well as formed lifelong friendships. From drawing on sidewalks with chalk to experiencing Mag Chain a different way, the seniors are thankful for all the experiences and opportunities that The W has given them.