Rosie
Van
Alsburg,
an
Engineering
senior
studying
computer science and physics, is
from Ann Arbor, Mich.
“I’m a transfer student so I started
at WCC (Washtenaw Community
College) first and then came here. I’ve
been in college for five years.
Everything still feels fake, you
know. I’m in a state of disbelief, like,
‘Oh, it’s a joke. They’re going to put
classes back in person and this is just
a weird dream.’ But my friends are
booking flights back to their home
states and everything, so I know that
it’s actually happening.
I’m the oldest grandkid on both
sides, so I’m the first grandkid in my
family to graduate. Both sides of my
family were going to come in. I was
really excited about that. I’ve just been
in school for a very long time. This was
supposed to be the celebration — that I
didn’t suffer for five years for nothing.
My last year I failed a class. Six
credits worth of class. EECS 482,
it’s the operating systems class, it’s
famously the hardest one in the
department. And I failed it. I did
really poorly, and I thought I was
going to drop out and that was the
end of it. It turns out, it’s okay, I came
back from it. My GPA’s not perfect,
but I’m still graduating. I meet all my
requirements, and I’ve got a job lined
up for May. So, I came back from that.”
Sydney Moore, an LSA senior
studying Women’s Studies, is from
Taylor, Mich.
“I am the first person in my
family to graduate from college. And,
obviously, we still get the degree and
all that, but commencement and the
graduations and celebrating with your
friends and the department and the
faculty you’ve built relationships with
is something that has really motivated
me. I hate to say that, that being here
isn’t enough, but it’s not.
All my family would come and
watch me be the first to graduate. The
hardest thing actually was calling my
mom and telling my mom there is not
going to be anything at all. Because
when I called her on Wednesday when
they canceled classes, the first and
only thing she said to me was, ‘Please
don’t tell me they’re going to cancel
graduation.’ That’s all my parents have
been waiting for, to see me graduate
from U-M.
I don’t want to cry, but it’s like
— even finishing high school was
something
that
felt
impossible.
Coming to U-M has felt — obviously
there are things wrong with the
institution, we all know that — but to
come to this kind of university… this is
not an institution that was built for me,
the fact that I kept going even when I
didn’t want to is like really the biggest
thing.”
Alexandra
Niforos,
an
LSA
senior studying English, is from
Grosse Pointe, Mich.
“I was on the phone with my friend
who’s also a senior here and we were
actually in the middle of canceling
‘The Wiz’ for Musket … And then I
got the Schlissel email, and I was like,
‘Before we continue, commencement
was canceled.’ We both were in shock
… At first, I was like, ‘This might as
well happen.’ But as soon as I was
on the phone with my mom, I burst
into tears and just felt overwhelming
emotion.
I know it’s a formality but it still
feels important — and the product
of all your hard work is walking
in graduation. I was thinking my
grandparents are immigrants and
education is so important to my
family, I would have been their first
granddaughter to graduate college,
and they would have watched that
happen. And now they don’t get that.
(I’d like) more answers about what’s
next. I know when I read that email, I
was so jarred that it was so minimized
… They were like, ‘We’re looking for an
alternative way to celebrate the class
of 2020,’ and I said, ‘What does that
mean?’ … It just felt like a formality
and not like an actual solution. I
understand why they’re doing what
they’re doing, but for them to just leave
us hanging with no answers, it added
to the shock.”
Ryan Montgomery, a Business
senior studying Human Resources
and Music, is from Grand Haven,
Mich.
“My older brother, he’s 31, he spent
five years here at Michigan. So, I
kind of grew up ever since fifth grade
knowing I wanted to go to Michigan
— it was the place I was going to be. I
was going to join the Men’s Glee Club,
I was going to graduate, I was going
to do all this, and to have that ripped
away, it’s really rough. It’s not a fun
time for anybody.
It’s been madness (being a Resident
Adviser). Res staff in general has
been doing a pretty good job of
communicating. It’s been as smooth
as it can be for these unprecedented
times but there’s still some smaller
aspects where it’d be nice to know that
this is happening. What I love is the
actual RA community, we’re really,
really tight, so it’s been nice to have
them to rely on.
Being in the Men’s Glee Club is
the reason I came to Michigan, more
than academics, more than sports or
anything like that. I needed to be in
this choir. My freshman year I came
in, joined the Glee Club, and we were
performing this piece called ‘Seven
Last Words of the Unarmed,’ which
is about the last words of seven Black
men who were shot by white police.
And so that was a huge milestone
for us. Supreme Court Justice Sonia
Sotomayor reached out to us and said,
‘Hey, I’d love to have the Glee Club
come into my black-tie dinner party
and perform for us.’ I was one of 20
people chosen to fly out to D.C. and
sing for that. That was magical. If
there was one moment I had to boil it
down to, it’d probably be that.
My brother got the chance to go
on two international tours with Glee
Club, they do them about every four
years, so that was my big thing. I’d
been saving up, I worked really hard
for a Boy Scout Popcorn Scholarship,
stuff like that, way back when I was
young. I was always working my
whole life to go on an international
tour, and then to hear that our spring
concert for this year and international
tour for this year was canceled, it’s
devastating. It’s an absolute bombshell
to all the seniors and all the graduating
folks who this was going to be their
last time.”
Desi Dikova, an LSA senior
studying
Chemistry
and
Interdisciplinary Physics with a
minor in Energy Science and Policy,
is from Farmington Hills, Mich.
“Canceling commencement was
absolutely in the best interests of
protecting our most vulnerable. Of
course, we can rationalize it all day
long and still feel hurt.
As a low-income, first-generation
college
student,
attending,
let
alone graduating, college is a huge
accomplishment. This meant so much
to me and my family. I was most
looking forward to Al Gore’s speech
at commencement and participating
in the Spectrum Center’s Lavender
Graduation for LGBT+ students. I was
also looking forward to SWAM club
swim’s end-of-the-year formal and
banquet. I’ve been with SWAM for
the past four years. Not being able to
say goodbye to my beloved teammates,
the people who have meant the most
to me, is the biggest disappointment.
It’s jarring and shocking that none of
it will happen.
I’m most proud of myself for
starting the Chemistry Inclusivity
Initiative with the American Chemical
Society club this year. We hosted guest
faculty, ran a mentorship program
and launched a podcast series about
the intersection of social identities
and the sciences. It’s been incredibly
rewarding to develop diversity and
inclusivity initiatives that I would’ve
wanted when I was first starting
college. What we leave behind is
so much greater than any school-
wide, department or extracurricular
ceremony can recognize.”
Vijita Kamath, a Business senior
studying
Math
and
Business
Administration, is from Mumbai,
India.
“I was extremely upset because I’m
also in the process of immigrating, so
I don’t get to go home. I’m essentially
stuck in the U.S., and I thought I would
see my dad for a conference which was
happening next weekend, but that got
canceled. And he’s like, ‘Oh well, never
mind. I’ll come for commencement.’
And now that’s also gone, so I haven’t
seen my family in two years, which
makes me sad.
I was looking forward to seeing my
family the most and since I’m a fifth-
year senior just finally being able to
validate it and get it all done, because
it’s been a long five years of college.
My sophomore year my mother
passed away, and I was stuck in the
same immigration dilemma then too,
so being home was a really stressful
time. One thing I was bummed about
then was that my mother doesn’t get to
see me graduate. And now it’s like both
my parents don’t, and I’m the only
child and an international student and
first-gen so that was one thing that
I was really sad about. But I’m also
glad that I was able to overcome that,
be able to graduate with two degrees
instead of one, which makes me really
proud and be involved with all the
extracurriculars I do in my life.
A delayed date would be really
helpful or just telling us how they’d
accommodate us if we walked in the
December commencement activities
that happen for Fall 2020 grads. In
terms of them telling us that they
made accommodations so when we
start our jobs, giving us a date so
we can leave and walk and be back
with our friends to celebrate, giving
us travel accommodations would
be really helpful. Or just an online
address from professors, deans, even if
we can’t congregate.”
Jackie Berger, an LSA senior
studying Political Science, is from
West Bloomfield, Mich.
“I was looking forward to hearing
former Vice President Al Gore as our
commencement speaker. My family
has been insanely unlucky in terms of
our commencement speakers. I have
two older siblings that both graduated
from the University of Michigan also.
My older sister was part of the Class of
2015. Their commencement speaker
was originally NBC news anchor
Brian
Williams.
The
University,
however, had to cancel him as speaker
because Williams was caught in a
scandal after making up a story while
covering the war in Iraq. My older
brother was part of the class of 2017,
which as some of you may know
was the year of the infamous video
montage
commencement
speech.
My brother refused to show up to his
commencement ceremony, so none of
us did as well. My family was looking
(forward to) finally having a classic
Big House commencement with a
well-known speaker, only to have this
commencement fall through on us as
well.
I was also looking forward to having
my family all together for the first time
in years. My parents are divorced and
both of my siblings have since moved
away to begin their professional lives
in Chicago. Since my older brother
was not at his commencement as I
had mentioned, the last time that the
five members of my family were all
together at the same place at the same
time was my high school graduation
back in 2016. This May was going to be
the first time that both my parents and
both my siblings would all be together,
but now I’m not sure what the future
holds.
This past semester, I have actually
been away from Ann Arbor. I am
finishing my UMich degree remotely
from New York City with an amazing
internship that I got at The Tonight
Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. I
was looking forward to flying in
commencement weekend and seeing
all of my friends in-person in Ann
Arbor while we prepared to graduate.
I was looking forward to catching up
with them on everything that we’ve
been up to this past semester while I
was away.”
Hasan Ali, a Rackham student
studying Electrical Engineering, is
from Karachi, Pakistan.
“It was the biggest bummer that I’ve
ever seen. Honestly, it had me down.
One thing that I was really looking
forward to this whole academic year
was the graduation itself. That’s the
capstone of your whole journey. And
for me that was something that when
coming to the U.S., before I started
my master’s, was an achievement or
dreamlike moment, when it’s like the
gown and the cap, and the family’s
going to be there and then you get
to graduate. It’s just an all-around
amazing feeling. It hit me like a bus,
like, ‘Oh my God, I’m never going to be
able to experience that.’
When
you
come
from
an
international country, the work ethic
and the way things are in the U.S. is
quite different from what it was for
me back home. Getting in tune with
that for the first semester was a hassle.
I could not tell what was happening,
I was all over the place. Things and
logistics and the way people treat
you and the way you’re supposed to
go about things is also very different.
Grasping that and getting yourself in
line with that and second semester
onwards, actually enjoying that, was a
big achievement I would say. It gives
you a new experience and perspective
and honestly that’s one thing I’ve
really taken away from this masters.
I like to play sports a lot — all of
that has stopped. I was playing two
leagues in the recreational sports
league, the IM league. Soccer’s my
go-to thing. That was something I
would look forward to week in week
out, and right now that’s all stopped
so … it’s a different lifestyle right now.
For these moments to be taken
away, it kind of feels like you’ve been
cheated. But at the same time, I do
understand that it was a need of the
time. But at the same time, you’re like,
‘Oh my God, why me?’”
Lillie Heyman, a Public Policy
senior studying Women’s Equity
Policy, is from Florham Park, N.J.
“I sobbed within seconds. It’s
almost tragic, in the most dramatic
way. Ceremonies are really important
to me. I’m someone who has a hard
time with change, so for me in a
transitional period as momentous
as finishing 16 years of school and
finishing college at the University of
Michigan, I wanted that ceremony.
For its symbolism, for the sentimental
aspect of it, and just for a second be
proud of all the work we’ve been
doing together.
All of the different ‘lasts’ that you
have in the last month of school —
your last time hanging out with your
friends, your last time going to certain
places, your last time being in the
Big House, hearing all your friends’
names being read. In Ford, there’s
only 80 of us, so we’ve all gotten pretty
close, and having a Ford graduation
too, together, is really important.
Closing everything out in a symbolic
way is really important. It happened
so abruptly, I didn’t get to have the
different lasts that people talk about
and that I wanted very dearly.
I’m heavily involved in Dance
Marathon, and I was looking forward
to my big achievement being this
year’s VictorThon. Its in-person
form got canceled unfortunately,
so we’re doing some kind of virtual
VictorThon instead, but I was really
looking forward to that 24-hour event
and playing a large role in it. So, that’s
also something I have to grapple with
and work through my emotions as
well.
It’s
unfortunate,
the
circumstances, because you almost
think that we don’t have a right to
be upset about these things because
people are getting really sick, people
are dying, and it’s a really hard topic.
And it seems almost selfish to be upset
about something like this, but I think
we have a right to feel our emotions,
and it’s important that we feel these
emotions and important that we talk
about them and process them and not
feel bad about feeling this way.”
Victoria Li, an LSA senior
studying
Economics,
is
from
Canton, Mich.
“Oddly, I was shocked and not
surprised at the same exact time.
I remember being on the phone
with a friend just 30 minutes prior
to the official announcement of the
cancellation of commencement. It
honestly still feels surreal. My heart
hurts, a lot. One moment I was a
senior with a significant portion of
my time in undergrad left. The next
moment, the entire period between
Spring Break and graduation was
canceled, and I suddenly found myself
having to say goodbye to some of the
people who I’ve seen every day for the
past few years.
Wednesday, March 18, 2020 — 3A
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SENIORS
From Page 1
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com