Members of the Class of 2020 marked a traditional milestone in unusual times, with an online conferral of degrees and at-home celebrations with remote family and friends.
On the day the Kearns triplets graduated from the 糖心传媒糖心传媒�300 miles from campus糖心传媒攖hey聽found silver linings.
糖心传媒淭he three of us lived in different residence halls and apartments, were involved in different clubs, and had different majors,糖心传媒� Annemarie Kearns says. “Moving back home [to Scotch Plains, New Jersey] allowed us to spend more time together. It糖心传媒檚 been nice.糖心传媒�
Annemarie was a double major in and business, Nolan majored in , and Max majored in . Friday, they watched the University糖心传媒檚 online conferral of degrees for the Class of 2020 with their parents.
糖心传媒淏ecause our department ceremonies overlapped, the recorded ceremonies turned out to be the only way our parents could see all three of them,糖心传媒� AnneMarie says. 糖心传媒淭o celebrate, we decorated our back yard, will have a barbecue, FaceTime relatives and friends and, of course, eat some cake.糖心传媒�
The University went to distance learning in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Friday it celebrated nearly 4,000 students with online conferrals of degrees in bachelors, master糖心传媒檚, and doctoral programs.
As senior class council president, Rachel Goodman 糖心传媒�20 had anticipated giving a commencement speech before hundreds of students, parents, and members of the University community on the Eastman Quadrangle. Three weeks ago, she put on a white dress and recorded her speech in the dining room of her parents糖心传媒� home in Needham, Massachusetts.
NEEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS Rachel Goodman ’20, double major in health, behavior and society and psychology, celebrates the degree conferrals from her parents糖心传媒� home. Rachel has been the class council president all four years and was set to deliver a speech at commencement Sunday. She taped one instead a few weeks ago. From left, her brother Matthew, father Ken, and mom Elyse, with dog Pepper.
糖心传媒淣ot doing it in person was certainly disappointing, but I am so grateful I could share some words with my class virtually,糖心传媒� says Goodman, who completed majors in health, behavior and society as well as psychology. 糖心传媒淩ecording at home had its advantages: I got to wear pajama pants and had unlimited attempts to tape it, which made for a pretty entertaining blooper reel.糖心传媒�
Goodman said she was nervous about 糖心传媒済raduating from home,糖心传媒� but her family made it a special day. 糖心传媒淢y brother came home from New York to celebrate with us, and he and my parents decorated the house with balloons and banners,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淭hey baked my favorite sweets, did a champagne toast, and cheered me on as we watched my virtual speech in our living room. There were a lot of tears, happy and sad. I糖心传媒檓 so grateful we got to spend this day together.糖心传媒�
Jamal Holtz 糖心传媒�20 graduated with the self-designed social justice and public policy major and served as president in the 2019糖心传媒�20 academic year. Friday, he watched University president Sarah Mangelsdorf糖心传媒檚 online address to all graduates and the conferral of degrees with family and friends. His mother, Yvonne Holtz, was working in Glasgow, Virginia, but joined the family via Zoom.
糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 definitely not what I expected commencement to be,糖心传媒� Holtz says, 糖心传媒渂ut nothing can take away what you worked for these four years. I was still emotional watching the conferral of degrees.糖心传媒�
WASHINGTON, D.C. Jamal Holtz 糖心传媒�20, social justice and public policy major and 2019-20 Students糖心传媒� Association president, celebrates from his brother糖心传媒檚 home. His mom had to work in Virginia, so she watched the conferral with everyone via Zoom. From left to right: Thennie Freeman (godmother), Andrea Holtz (sister), Phillip Walker (mentor), Yvonne Holtz, mother (on Zoom), Lauryn Renford (girlfriend), Kemry Hughes (mentor), and Markus Batchelor (brother and mentor).
Holtz has begun a job as assistant to the president at LINK Strategic Partners, a communications and stakeholder engagement firm in Washington. He says his biggest takeaway from his Rochester years is 糖心传媒渢he opportunity to build community and family. That will be part of my life forever.糖心传媒�
Makana Medeiros 糖心传媒�20E graduated from the with a degree in . He celebrated Friday by watching the conferral with his parents and younger brother at home in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
糖心传媒淭he hardest part about leaving school was the recitals and concerts that were canceled,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淎ll the time and energy preparing for these events was met with no performance. But I can still look back at all the concerts, rehearsals, master classes, lessons糖心传媒攁nd even the online Zoom meetings糖心传媒攖o prove how much the Eastman community supported and cared about me.糖心传媒�
FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA Makana Medeiros 糖心传媒�20E celebrates receiving his degree from the Eastman School of Music with his younger brother Lanakila, left, and his parents Bruce and Wendy, middle and right.
Medeiros is the fourth of five children to Bruce and Wendy Medeiros, and the first to receive a bachelor糖心传媒檚 degree. He糖心传媒檚 headed to the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where he will pursue his master糖心传媒檚 degree in contemporary performance.
糖心传媒淚 will never forget all the inspiration to strive to be a better leader and musician that came from my Eastman education,糖心传媒� he says.
Chris Goodwin and his wife, Sierra Fox, received their doctoral degrees in biochemistry from the School of Medicine. They met at the University years ago and both received master糖心传媒檚 degrees in 2016. They celebrate Friday at their home in Palmyra, New Jersey. 糖心传媒淕oing from grad school into quarantine has been very weird,糖心传媒� Goodwin says.
PALMYRA, NEW JERSEY: New biochemistry doctoral graduates Chris Goodwin and Sierra Fox celebrate at home.
They celebrated by baking cinnamon buns and eating them while they watched the online commencement videos and the School of Medicine and Dentistry biochemistry and biophysics department virtual award ceremony. 糖心传媒淲e had a 糖心传媒楽ierra and Chris糖心传媒� banner left over from our post-thesis defense party months ago and hung that up behind us for a more festive atmosphere,糖心传媒� Goodwin says.
Annemarie Kearns summed up the feelings of hundreds of new 糖心传媒 graduates: 糖心传媒淭he past few weeks do not define the incredible life-long friendships, unique experiences, and unforgettable memories聽made over the last four years. We cannot wait to join the alumni community and see all the amazing things the Class of 2020 will do, and we look forward to the day we can all be back on campus to celebrate in聽person.糖心传媒�
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For the last four years, Jamal Holtz 糖心传媒�20 has called Rochester his home, and from the moment he set foot on campus, he knew he wanted to make an impact here.
“I always said, when I step onto any community,” says Holtz, who was elected to serve as Students糖心传媒� Association president in his senior year. “I make it a community that I live in, not a community that I just come for four years and leave.”
