PROFILES IN COURAGE
ADJUSTING TO A NEW REALITY The Resilience and Courage of Guilford Students BY K AREN ALLEY
LELE GRAVES ’20
Spring break 2020 started out like most: Students packed a duffle bag of clothes and headed to their parents’ home, a friend’s house or a vacation destination for a few days off from school. That’s when they got the message that due to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, spring break would be extended another week. Shortly thereafter came the news that classes were transitioning to online, and students wouldn’t be coming back to campus. While it was a stressful time for everyone, the impact on the senior class was great. They ended up missing out on a traditional commencement, graduation parties, art shows and thesis presentations. Fortunately, Guilford College students are resilient, and professors, administrators and staff were there to adapt to new options and provide support where needed.
Richmond, Va. MAJORS: Art, Psychology About Lele >> As a senior Art major, Lele was looking forward to her upcoming art show. “It’s the most celebrated thing of your major, and I’d been planning mine for a year,” Lele says. When she got the news that students wouldn’t be going back to class, she was devastated. “I was working on life-size monotype prints and had almost $200 worth of paper I’d cut up and put in a printing press. All I had to do was put it together in a collage, but I couldn’t even get to the studio,” Lele says. She and other Art students had to do an about-face to finish their work, and Lele taught herself Photoshop to create artwork digitally. “Being able to continue to make art helped me cope, and all of the professors were so supportive.” Lele also had a mandatory thesis class for the 3-week course period, where students learned about applying for grants, making art for businesses, filing income taxes and other important career information. “We learned a lot of practical things, but more than anything it was good to have each other for emotional support,” Lele says. Lele is looking forward to a career helping children and families, but she hopes to still take part in a senior art show in some form. “A lot of us had to change up our projects for the pandemic, so it would be really interesting to get a PHOTO BY ERIN K YLE ’19
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chance to see everyone’s work,” she says.
