Like other students graduating during the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m nervous about my future being put on pause
. I won’t be able to complete research projects or tie up any loose ends on campus. I wasn’t able to say goodbye, possibly for the last time, to my friends who have put together frantic last-minute travel arrangements home. And though I know I’m lucky—I’m safe and healthy and I have a home to return to—the emotional toll of being cut off from campus life has been heavier than expected.
“I completely understand why classes needed to shift online and agree with and support the decision, but I feel kind of cheated in a way,” says Sukaina Jamil, a journalism student at Ryerson University. “We’ve had the experience of enjoying the end of four years of really, really hard work taken away from us. Not being able to see friends, or people who I know I likely won’t ever see again now that I’m graduating, is a really upsetting feeling.
Handling the logistics of moving back home suddenly, trying to set up a workspace in your family home to attend virtual classes and complete coursework and trying to figure out future plans like post-grad jobs and grad school housing has made the disruption even more fraught and full of uncertainty. “[It’s been] challenging to apply for housing without the chance to visit the campus in person,” says Meg Jianing Zhang, an English student at the University of Toronto, who recently accepted a grad school offer in the states. “I have NO idea what will happen if US/Canada borders are not opened by September.”Gen-Z’s shoulders
—the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated it. Personally, I’ve lost my main source of income because of the coronavirus and have been on the hunt for a post-grad job in journalism since November 2019. I don’t know when, if ever, in the foreseeable future I’ll be able to find a job.
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