Like most people, I pass numerous graduation signs as I walk in my neighborhood. I cheer on processions of cars as they drive by the homes of new graduates, and I watch celebrity-rich “remote” ceremonies on TV for 2020 graduates who did not get to experience the real pomp and circumstance of generations before them. Parents tell me about feeling bad for their kids, who are missing out on the big ceremonies, graduation parties, prom, end of semester activities, and being able to celebrate with their friends.
Since these normally busy young people have a bit of extra time on their hands, I took the opportunity to talk to some of this year’s graduates from my neighborhood about what 2020, COVID-19, and online learning have taught them.
Disclaimer – I’ve known most of them for much of their lives and still can’t believe that they are graduating from high school, college, and graduate school. They are all current or past graduates of West Bloomfield High School.
Carli
Carli graduated from West Bloomfield High School this summer. She plans to attend Michigan State University in the fall to study Elementary Education, although she is also considering Advertising and Marketing. She likes working with children and being creative. She loved the people, teachers, and atmosphere at West Bloomfield High School, which she considers her second home. She was active in student government, Spirit Week, NHS, DACA, and had the chance to intern with a marketing company and volunteer at a senior living facility while in high school.
COVID-19 has changed Carli’s life in many ways – including giving her a “different perspective on how you lead your everyday life.” She has missed seeing her friends, except at a distance, but she has grown closer to her family, enjoying games together and having fun (which she didn’t expect). She felt that online learning was easier than being at school with “no real tests or quizzes, just assignments and a few Zoom classes,” but she thinks you learn more through interaction in the classroom than on the screen. She feels sad that she and others who “worked really, really hard didn’t get acknowledged” for their work and missed out on senior night, graduation, and Honor’s Night. Having said that, she thinks that COVID-19 taught her that, “Not everything goes your way….I might not get every job I want, but there will be something else for me and I learned strategies to try different things and that’s okay.”
Morgan
Morgan just graduated from the University of Michigan this summer with a Bachelor’s degree in Movement Science from the School of Kinesiology. She always liked sports and had been thinking about using her education and interests in a career in physical therapy (PT), designing footwear, or working in a crash lab. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed her plans-at least for the short term. “The world is so uncertain with hiring and not knowing if school would be online,” so Morgan is taking her time to find the right opportunity. “It is overwhelming to think about graduating during the pandemic, but I feel that once this settles, there will be more opportunities as companies begin to hire again,” she said.
While she completely understood the need for remote education during the last semester as a public health need, she did not believe online learning was best for her academically, and she believes this is something she needs to seriously consider when applying to graduate schools. While her professors did an “awesome job” preparing online classes, she prefers classroom learning for the ability to talk to classmates and to her professors one-on-one. One upside to remote learning is the fact that it was easier to schedule time with faculty who strived to be more available in this new environment.
As Morgan looks forward to the future, she feels that higher education could do more to help students succeed by focusing on their well-being and mental health. Many students need more affordable exercise/gym programs and support for creating more comfortable social and learning environments.
Yash
Yash graduated from West Bloomfield High School in 2010 before going on to the University of Michigan, where he earned a degree in Business Administration. He worked as a Strategy and Technology Consultant and writer for several years. This summer, he graduated from Harvard University with a Master’s in Design Engineering. This is an interdisciplinary program between the Design and Engineering Schools, which focuses on tackling complex social and business challenges through human-centered design.
COVID-19 has affected Yash’s career and personal goals “quite significantly.” Before the pandemic, he was looking forward to a new career with a design-centric company, but now he is reevaluating both his short- and long-term goals as he sees the impact of the pandemic on the economy and society. His thesis was on the trauma of mass shootings and community responses, and he has decided to continue his research this summer by studying how trauma manifests after any mass event with the focus being on the long-term response to COVID-19. Yash is interested in policy development as a way to “help shape our future.” He knows he has benefitted from an education system that is “quite inaccessible to many people,” and he thinks about the need to make education more affordable.
Like Carli and Morgan, Yash’s experience with online learning was both positive and negative. He found it less motivating than in-person engagement with fellow students and faculty. However, technology allowed him to present his thesis to a group of 85 faculty, partners in research, and family members while a traditional presentation would have had fewer than 10 people. Technology also allowed him to do guest lectures on design engineering to ninth grade students in Detroit from his home.
My neighbors are a just a small sample of students living through COVID-19, but they reflect the feelings of many young people who are graduating during one of the most transformational periods that many of us have experienced. It was great to reconnect with them after many years.
Carli is bubbly and friendly and going to make a wonderful elementary school teacher or make her mark in advertising. Morgan is so mature for her age and a communicator who will be successful in whatever she sets her mind to. Yash is one of the smartest and most adventurous people I know who is constantly learning new things and looking for opportunities to make a difference in the world.
I can’t wait to see where they will be in 10 years. I expect their parents will keep me informed as we walk around the neighborhood.
SEMCOG programming note
West Bloomfield School District Superintendent Dr. Gerald Hill will be joining a panel of education leaders from our region at a SEMCOG webinar on June 25 to discuss what school will look like in the fall. Register here for this event.
In addition, on July 9, leaders from Oakland Community College, Washtenaw Community College, University of Michigan-Dearborn, and Wayne State University will discuss arrangements being made in their institutions for the fall. Register here for this event.
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