COVID-19 has influenced our lives in many different ways. One of the most significant changes is that we have been pushed into a more digital world. Even though it was nice to stay home instead of going to school, I never considered the possibility of having an online graduation. In consideration of the risk of the virus spreading among the crowd during graduation, Seoul Scholars International decided to go with a digital distance graduation this year.
The graduation was live-streamed at 11:30 AM, which was usually the time we had our online classes. This time, however, teachers suspended their lectures, and students watched the graduation instead. In the video, the principal congratulated the seniors, and following his commencement speech, the seniors came one by one to receive their graduation certificates.
As they did so, the sophomores and juniors’ farewell video clips were projected on a screen. My video was also shown, and it was embarrassing to see my face on such a big screen. My farewell video was about 40 seconds long, but it somehow seemed very short.
COVID-19 indeed brought many changes to the year 2020 both good and bad. The good thing is that I’ve got more spare time to enjoy my hobbies, but the bad part is that many unusual things are going on. Even though COVID-19 has some pros, I believe that the cons outweigh the pros, which is already proven by the graduation ceremony. I hope COVID-19 ends as soon as possible so that people can go back to their own lives and do what they usually do.
-Written By: Minji Kwon