Guest writer Anna Spexarth is a senior at Kansas State University, planning to graduate in May 2020. She is majoring in public relations with minors in leadership studies and art. She is also a student public relations coordinator for the Staley School of Leadership Studies, specializing in social media.
If you had told me three and a half years ago I would be taking all of my classes online, that I wouldn’t be able to give proper goodbyes to my classmates and professors, and wouldn’t be walking across the stage, attempting not to fall, after I wrapped up my final classes as a K-State student, I would have told you that was crazy.
But here we are.
Two months, or even a little over a month ago, I couldn’t picture anything else happening but the commencement and typical graduation celebrations that I had thought I was going to experience since my childhood. As a Type-A person I pushed myself in my school, wanting to receive honors when I graduated and wanting to hear that said after my name on the day of commencement.
But now we, the Kansas State University class
of 2020, and much of the rest of the collegiate world are going through circumstances that no other class has navigated before, but guess what, we are primed for this.
While this quite honestly sucks, and no one wants their college experience to end like this, we are a generation that was born adaptable.
Many of us grew up as technology was becoming accessible to most families, even if it was not to the degree that it was for people born post-2000s. We grew up resourceful, used to Googling solutions, clicking buttons until something worked, and solving problems in this way from the time we could solve problems at all.
We got this. While this whole situation does create more uncertainty in a time when we are first emerging into the Real Adult World and trying to find jobs, we have so many resources to help us and we are all in this together.
If you are familiar with Clifton Strengths, my top two strengths are positivity and adaptability, which definitely influences the lens at which I see this situation. That being said, here are my top four tips for all of us graduating this semester, in case you need a new perspective on it all.
Set goals
Everything can feel so overwhelming right now with everything from future careers to health, it is hard to know what is going to happen.
My advice is to set some goals for what you want to work on or accomplish over the next month, or even just the next week. It can be anything from finding a job or reading more, to spring cleaning. Then break down the baby steps to work toward achieving that goal and spread it out over days.
For me one of my goals is finding a job after graduation, so each day I review LinkedIn job alerts and Google searches, as well as sending my resume to others to look over and working on professional certifications that I may not have had time to do before.
Breaking it down like this and making lists of everything you need to do can help you feel like you are accomplishing something and still being proactive during a situation that is out of your control.
Take care of yourself
It is incredibly easy to get overwhelmed by everything going on in the world and in our lives, but it is so important to take care of yourself. As cliche as it may seem, you really cannot pour from an empty cup.
Make sure to do a few things a day that take your mind off of what may be stressing you out or making you feel overwhelmed. That can be anything from baking, reading, practicing mindfulness or moving your body.
I find that when I am on social media more than two hours a day I can get very anxious about everything going on. I set time limits for social media on my phone and it mutes notifications for those apps after that time limit. Board games are something you can do with your social distancing pals, and you can do them over Zoom. Even my cat likes to play!
Reach out
Depending on who you are social distancing with, it can get lonely, or maybe you just miss getting to vent to your friends in between classes! Make time to Zoom or FaceTime with the people that you miss. For me, it is refreshing to talk with my friends about what is going on, especially since we are all in the same boat together and reassuring to know that we are all here for each other. K-State’s Counseling Services also offers assistance online.
Remember that we are all here for each other
Lastly, it is so important to remember that we are all here for each other. Like the song from High School Musical told us, “we’re all in this together.” We will get through this together. For us graduates, it may be weird to log out of Canvas for the last time instead of walking out of our last class with our friends, but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t accomplish something great.
We should still feel just as accomplished as if we had graduated like those in the years before us. When this is all done, and we get to spend time in person with others again, we will look back on this and see that even though we faced challenges and a situation that hadn’t happened ever before, we did make it through.
Physical distancing doesn’t have to mean social distancing. Our professors and friends are here for us, it is just virtually now.
We are such an adaptable generation and this is just one more thing we will do in a unique way that no one has ever done before. We got this. Go ‘Cats!
