THE ISLAND IMPROVISING
UPEI students make the best of missing out on graduation
UPEI students find their own ways to mark convo- cation during pandemic.
For graduating UPEI students, May 7 was meant to be a day of remembering their struggles during the last several years of their lives and rejoicing over their accomplishments.
In any other year, that’s exactly what it would have been, but graduating during the global coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic meant no photos in oversized gowns with friends and family, no sitting for hours and waiting for your name to be called, no walking across the stage and shaking hands.
Instead, it’s getting your diploma in the mail with the possibility of a make-up convocation in the fall.
But some students decided to make the best of it, including the would-be valedictorian Sam MacPhail, who decided to record his speech and put it on social media, once he got past his initial disappointment.
“I decided to turn it into a positive because it’s not like it’s just our graduating class. It’s everyone in the entire world," he said. "We’re still all graduating, we’re still all healthy. Everything’s going to be OK.”
The 23-year-old noted the biggest impact isn’t so much the ceremony but losing all the things around it.
“Overall, I think the biggest thing is … the idea of being able to celebrate together and get your pictures taken,” he said.
“For some people, this is the biggest moment of their lives ... to date and for most of us it’s a huge milestone, so to be able to document it, it’s obviously disheartening for that to happen.”
As for documenting and reminiscing, some nursing students decided to have a mini-convocation of their own to mark the end of their academic journeys.
The idea started with Chloe Fraser, who saw some videos online of students elsewhere doing similar things, so she got her sister, Beccah, to act as emcee May 7 for her and three of her classmates.
The ceremony featured Beccah on the Frasers’ back deck with a megaphone and four fake diplomas around the handle of a push broom to maintain social distancing.
The ceremony was over in a few minutes, but in their small way, Fraser and her friends shared the convocation experience.
After the ceremony, everyone sat around and had some cake while they talked about their four years together.
“We just wanted to make the most of the day and celebrate with a few close friends, so we did all we could,” Fraser said.
She thinks the video might be able to inspire others missing out on their own graduations.
“It was kind of a way to encourage people we know. Grade 12s are coming up to their graduation too, so encourage them to celebrate their achievements.”
MacPhail hopes his speech might be able to do something similar.
“The biggest thing is to know everyone’s still proud of you, regardless of whether we’re able to celebrate in person or not.”
“We just wanted to make the most of the day and celebrate with a few close friends, so we did all we could.”
Chloe Fraser