Con: Postpone graduation

BY JOSHUA BLEIWEISS

Graduation is seen as an important time for a student, no matter the grade. College students have graduated from kindergarten, elementary school, middle school and high school.

It’s something they remember and talk about as they grow up to reflect on memories.

But what if graduation was taken away from them or forced to change because things are out of their control? COVID-19 has caused uncertainty about whether graduation should be made into an online event this year.

While COVID-19 is a serious issue and there is a need for safety precautions, graduation is a unique case. It should not be moved online. It should be postponed until a safer time when it can be celebrated in-person.

People will feel heartbroken that something they have worked years on attaining, both physically and mentally, can be ripped away from them. Online graduation simply doesn’t feel the same as an in-person graduation.

It’s not only the students graduating who would feel torn up, it’s also the people behind the scenes, who supported the students in achieving their academic success.

Online may be safe, and even cheaper, but it removes a massive chunk of the college experience.

Postponing graduation would make it so that students can stay home and stay safe but also prepare for it more. They could have more time to practice their speeches and even decorate their caps.

I’m quite close to graduating myself, and if it ended up being cancelled due to the pandemic, while I'd understand it, I would honestly feel devastated. Students have been preparing to graduate for years and an online graduation would feel awkward. It would lose a lot of value.

It wouldn’t feel the same to hear a commencement speech from a living room and receiving a diploma paper via email compared to hearing it in person and being physically there.

People should be allowed to feel sad about this and push for a delay. Graduating from college is something you rarely get to do again. Why take away that opportunity entirely when it can simply be pushed to a later and safer time?

With campuses being closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, students have been left in the dark about how their education is being affected.

When offices were still open, face-to-face access to counselors and staff was an easy way to get instant feedback on questions and to stay informed on changes about the school. In lack of direct contact, emails are simply not enough.

Pierce College should host weekly webinars to provide updates about all decisions and plans being made for the college.

Although faculty and team meetings are ongoing via Zoom, some of what’s being said is not shared to those who are actually being affected-the students.

It can sometimes take hours before Pierce or the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) sends an email, and they usually don’t always address student concerns.

Almost every person has special circumstances where not all the information applies to them. They have more concerns, but they won’t get a response right away.

They usually have to wait to speak with someone through the Cranium Café. Not all assistants will be available online when they have the question, and a majority don’t have the option set for them to send an offline message.

If Pierce College President Alexis Montevirgen did a live streamed event where he gave updates and then opened up time for students to give feedback, similar to Coffee and Conversations with the President, communication would be more effective.

San Diego Mesa College had a community forum on YouTube, where the president of the college talked about a variety of items, including laptop distribution and emergency funds, as well as campus construction and registration for summer classes. After answering questions that were previously submitted, she looked at comments directly from the chat.

California State University, Northridge and California State University, Fullerton are also hosting online events to provide information for newly admitted students as part of their outreach and recruitment program.

After a webinar has ended, a recording of it can be uploaded to the Pierce website along with a link being sent through email.

This would ensure that people who missed it could still have access to everything that was shared.

Everyone in the meeting can’t be in the same room, so another option is to do it through Zoom. The platform allows conference calls to be streamed directly to YouTube.

Rather than simply having the president host it, administrators, deans and chairs from different departments could also join the video to answer concerns that are more specific to people’s needs.

Despite a 20-second delay between the Zoom and the stream, there would still be a live chat on YouTube for people to talk.

While not all of the weekly webinars may contain any new changes, simply checking in will create a closer community.

Decisions about classes or finances don’t have to be behind closed doors. Although there will still be people who are not happy with the results, students and professors could see the thought process behind choices that are made.

Perhaps issues that they didn’t know needed resolving could be brought up by people in the chat.

By having a weekly online forum, communication would be open on all ends.

I've also been attempting to do ‘dopamine detox’ at least once per week. This is where someone doesn't utilize electronic devices that lead to high dopamine production in the brain, such as playing video games, binge-watching a show, watching YouTube videos and scrolling through social media. According to other people, the ‘detox’ helps recalibrate the brain to be more motivated to do the ‘lesser-liked’ activities.

Now, I've been heavily invested in politics since 2015. I love reading and learning about it, as well as what goes on in the U.S. government. But looking at how many COVID-19 cases the country has compared to other countries has been a bit scary. So, I try to minimize the amount of information I take in because that is always in the news.

In more positive aspects, my close friend and I have been keeping our "Boba Fridays" tradition by having them on Saturdays instead. Only this time, I would use the "Uber Eats" app to order and pick it up at my place to avoid going further out. Then we would have a video chat about whatever topics we want to talk about.

While my academic classes aren't too difficult, there are extra 'classes' that I've put myself in that aren't academic. For instance, learning from YouTube, online courses, podcasts, etc. on topics I'm interested in, and then incorporating that information into my life.

And lastly, I've been thinking about what truly drives my core in life. While journalism is one of my biggest passions, I do enjoy writing, editing and filming videos.. Later, I do want to involve myself in public speaking and coaching, both2 I'm not that good at right now but feel I have a calling to do.

While the pandemic has obvious downsides, I've just been taking the time to do self-reflection, grow as a person, learn new information, and bring myself closer to the life I want to live. For now, I've been more aware of time, practicing self-care, progressing day by day and continuing despite obstacles and setbacks.