With pandemic, graduation in rear view, Class of 2021's biggest lesson: Adapt

Being a college senior in the Class of 2021 means re-imagining decades-long traditions surrounding commencement, graduating amidst the backdrop of a 14 month-long battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Entering adulthood brazenly, the way college students are supposed to, was shuttered. From senior thesis presentations, to bar crawls, to the commencement ceremonies, it was all different. But for graduating seniors at Duke, North Carolina State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, different doesn't mean bad.

“We went through different things than other graduating classes,” said Vivian Le, a recent grad at UNC Chapel Hill. "We adapted and made our own traditions,” said Sharmi Amin, a Duke University grad.

What would have been senior wine nights at Duke became picnics on the lawn, and the tradition of streaking on the last day of classes at UNC moved from the lobby of the undergraduate library to the outdoor steps of Wilson Library. Extravagant farewell and graduation parties turned into tight-knit gatherings with friends.

As the class of 2021’s college careers came to a close, the state began opening up; COVID-19 restrictions eased.

“Life leading up to graduation was really weird because everything happened so fast,” said Le. “I never imagined that things would change enough so that I could go to a bar at the end of my senior year.”

Senior year started to feel normal again.

“We’re celebrating graduation, and we were also celebrating attempting to go back to some sort of normalcy,” said Bryce Royal, a graduate of NC State.

Still, graduation ceremonies differed drastically from those carried out pre-pandemic.

In an effort to appropriately distance their nearly 4,000 graduates, UNC-Chapel Hill held five ceremonies over the span of three days. Each student was guaranteed two tickets. Fittingly, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a household name for his role in pandemic response, and and Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, a UNC alumna involved with the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, spoke virtually at the ceremonies.

Duke University, having a much smaller graduating class, held a single ceremony, with each student allotted two tickets. “It was really amazing having my two parents there, but of course I would have loved to celebrate with more of my family,” said Amin.

Until the final months of the school year, the possibility of in-person ceremony seemed unlikely. The opportunity to sit in a stadium in a cap and gown was an unexpected surprise.

For better or for worse, the COVID-19 pandemic will forever be a part of the Class of 2021’s college memories. And as they venture to take on the world, they will relish in the relationships they built and the adaptability they learned during the pandemic.