05/08/2020
To the UGA 2020 grads:
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Graduation looks a little different this year. Actually, this whole semester was a little different, to be entirely honest. Classes were online, coffee shops to study in were closed. Students were separated from friends and told to stay home. And wow, Downtown Athens became a ghost town without you guys here.
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For the seniors, this semester was supposed to be filled with parties, final gatherings, and fun nights out with friends before going into the real world. The final celebrations were cut short, and it almost felt like this semester didn’t even happen at all.
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Yet, you guys figured it out. You had study dates on zoom calls, you made battle stations and study desks in your childhood bedrooms at home, and you got maybe a little too much takeout from your favorite restaurants during those stressful nights of studying in these new spaces. There were grad photos taken on front porches of homes, and virtual parties taken place on FaceTime calls. You guys lifted each other up virtually when it got hard, too. Somehow, you guys turned this whole mess into something beautiful.
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And now you’re here. You did it. You put the hard work in all these years, and did your best in this whirlwind of a time, and you made it through the final tests, papers, assignments. You are now a graduate of the University of Georgia. No pandemic can ever take that from you.
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So from the bottom of my heart: Congratulations, grads. I cannot wait to see so many of y’all run through the arch and downtown soon enough. Stay safe, stay healthy, and go get ‘em out there. -c.