Graduation Framed a Bit Differently for Seniors
In the big picture, the journey to the walk was what mattered most
Mike Brohard
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They pictured it all.
The last day of class. The final, final exam. Walking out of the classroom and raising their hands in triumph.
Or reaching into the backpack and pulling out an Old Aggie to crack – maybe right there in the hallway -- celebrating the end of the collegiate experience with the people who they became so close with over time.
What they didn’t picture was this moment on earth, where seniors are finishing out the final three months of undergraduate coursework back home in the basement, or alone in an apartment where the lease isn’t up until June and the rent is already paid in full.
The celebration, well, that changed.
“Instead of that picture in my head, I’m picturing myself at home, on my computer, in my room, finishing my last exam and being, OK, I’m done,” swimmer Andrea Basile, said. “I’ll go to the kitchen and grab a snack, celebrate with a piece of chocolate and Netflix.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Fort Collins restaurants will not be filled with families toasting their graduates this weekend. There will be no final photos staged in the Oval. No flipping of tassels. Walking across the stage to accept a diploma is not possible at this time, so all the May graduates will be invited to do so in December.
By then, who knows where they’ll be. Honestly, for many of them, hearing their name called at Moby Arena was not among the list of heavy losses. Earning the degree was a major achievement, but the true focus was on who it would bring together and how they would celebrate.
And say goodbye.
“I was getting pretty excited for it,” volleyball player Olivia Nicholson said. “Paulina Hougaard-Jensen was going to be back in town, Kirstie Hillyer was going to be back, and Jessica Jackson was going to come up, so we seniors were going to be together again and just kind of celebrate the four years I’d spent with my family and friends, and we were going to have a big party here. I was pretty excited for it; I was anticipating it and ready.
“All of it is changed. Paulina can’t come, Stie’s probably not going to come and Katie Oleksak is done and is probably going to grab her stuff and move. It’s been a bummer. It’s’ almost like a grieving process of this is not how I anticipated it to end.”
The graduation ceremony itself is just a representation of the culmination of what was a grander plan for all of them. Not all of them had a clear direction in mind when they stepped on campus, which is perfectly acceptable. Most 18-year olds struggle with which clothes to wear in the morning, let alone where they see themselves a few years down the road.
The beauty of college is the development, which extends far beyond the educational mission. It is about growth as a person. Maturing. Creating a very individual take on the moral compass. Political and world views are developed, bridges are crossed as young adults learn more about gender and race relations.
The coronavirus didn’t erase any of those experiences, it just altered the final few pages.
This includes the set up for those first steps away from Colorado State.
After a record-setting career with the men’s basketball team, Nico Carvacho was already looking forward as he finished his final class. Taking online from his family home in Tennessee was not exactly a great burden for the Rams’ and Mountain West’s all-time career rebounding leader.
Like the rest of his fellow graduates, his prospects of a job search have taken on a new look. The pre-NBA Draft workout camps are on the shelf, for now, as is the idea of the summer league. It was his dream as a child to play a sport professionally, and at Colorado State, he took advantage of the opportunity to make his dream a reality.
“I’m glad I have my degree, and I’ll be able to use it later in my life. But my first focus since I was a little kid was to play professional sports -- basketball, soccer, baseball, whatever it was. Now that I have that opportunity, that’s what I’m focused on.”
He wasn’t sure he would be on campus in May during graduation weekend. His hope was he would be in an NBA draft camp, working out for teams. Those have been shelved for now, as are the prospects of the NBA Summer League. Like the rest of his classmates, the job market is clouded.
So the one class he takes is just a small part of a day doing whatever he can to improve his resume. He wishes he was in Fort Collins, putting in the work with his coaches and teammates, the people who have done so much over the years to elevate his game.
Instead, he works on his ball handling and does shooting and rebounding drills at the hoop outside of his house, spending three or four times a week running a few miles and following the recommendations of a personal trainer.
It’s been absolutely fantastic, and it’s an amazing place to live. I’ve been extremely grateful in the last few months and trying to soak it up as much as I can with corona. That’s my thought. Man, I don’t get a graduation and say goodbye how I want, but it’s been the biggest blessing to come here.Olivia Nicholson, Graduating Volleyball Player
Nicholson will take advantage of her one chance to extend her career, playing beach volleyball at Texas A&M-Kingsville, pursing a master’s in education and then rolling that into a graduate assistant’s position with the program.
Basile had already lined up a three-month internship in Spain, doing human resources work, an experience she is hopeful will still come to fruition. However, she was really looking forward to graduation, to getting dressed up and toasting the past four years.
Which she still plans on doing. There will be no cap and gown. Instead, she will head to her boyfriend’s house, with speeches planned and friends joining them via Skype for the festivities. What she really wanted was her senior banquet and a final salute to her time with the swim team.
Instead, she’s been reflective about how remote learning at the end has become somewhat of a silver lining to her overall experience as a Ram.
“I really think in college you learn more about yourself than what you learn in the actual classroom. For me, I study for a test, I take a test, I do pretty well, but then five years from when I took it, I won’t remember all of those terms,” she said. “What I will remember are the lessons I’ve learned.
“For me, it’s just to be OK with not knowing what’s next. That was always a struggle for me. I still don’t know my career path after this, which is a little daunting, but learning to be OK with that and learning life is a journey and some of the paths I’ll take won’t be the one for me, but that’s not a failure. That’s another step toward figuring out what I’m meant to do. That was a huge lesson I had to learn, being OK with the unknown and not knowing exactly what’s next.”
So the May 2020 graduating class of Colorado State will walk away from points near and far. The end is not how they envisioned it would be, but if most of them are honest, neither was much of their journey.
There were hardships long before the pandemic, as well as triumphs of achievement. They learned who they wanted to become and how to work to get there. They found passions in pursuits they didn’t know existed, made friends they never would have met.
It was about the elective taken on a whim or a passing recommendation, and becoming so intrigued by the professor a major was changed. Finding what you value in a friend and confidant based on the freshman year dorm assignment. It was a trip to the Oval or to Horsetooth Reservoir, gazing to the skies, wondering how it all fit together, or even if it would.
The ending which is no longer available pales in comparison to the live lived from the first day.
“The community that I have here is unreal. I just don’t think it’s like this everywhere, so the last few months have been very reflective,” Nicholson said. “It’s like, ‘Liv, you’ve had the best experience here, even outside of volleyball.’ It’s been absolutely fantastic, and it’s an amazing place to live. I’ve been extremely grateful in the last few months and trying to soak it up as much as I can with corona. That’s my thought. Man, I don’t get a graduation and say goodbye how I want, but it’s been the biggest blessing to come here.”
Picture perfect?
Well, that all depends on where you point the lens.
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