US ‘Seniors’ Miss Out on Their Final College Memories

 

In Baltimore, Maryland, the news came during Act 1 of Puccini's "La Rondine."

Johns Hopkins University students were performing their final dress rehearsal¹ of the production at the Peabody Conservatory². Then members of the university community received an email from the school's president. He was cancelling all nonessential gatherings³ because of the coronavirus.

The students quickly contacted their friends, who came to watch what would be the show's only performance. It was not the only event Johns Hopkins recently cancelled.

The school has cancelled ceremonies for students who successfully complete their study programs. It also cancelled many other events and traditions for "seniors" -- students in their final year. So have many other colleges and universities across the United States.

Most of these schools have asked students to return home because of the spread of the virus.

Nick Grace⁴ is a senior at Endicott College outside of Boston, Massachusetts. He told The Associated Press (AP) he took one last walk around the grounds of the school before leaving.

"I've been following the news, and it doesn't look like (graduation) is going to happen any time soon," said Grace. "If we don't have our celebrations, we're kind of robbed of our end-of-year ceremonies."

At Peabody, Hannah Alexandra Noyes started crying during her performance in "La Rondine." She said it was not because the story they were performing was sad, but because her final year of school was.

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is world famous and active in medical research on the coronavirus. Johns Hopkins reports that by the end of March, over 140,000 Americans were known to have COVID-19, the disease⁵ caused by the virus. As of last Monday, the were at least 2,500 COVID-19-related deaths.

As millions of people worldwide have sheltered in place to slow the pandemic, most U.S. colleges have taken action to protect their students and employees. They have cancelled sporting events and artistic⁶ performances and sent students home to finish the spring term online.

For seniors preparing to graduate, it was a sudden end to what was not exactly four years of late-night friendships and all-night studying. And with widespread bans on large gatherings soon to come, many students hurried to create one more memory from their college days.

In New York State, Colgate University senior Caroline Barrett joined other students in an all-night vigil followed by a swim in nearby Taylor Lake.

"At that point it was we either do it this night or never. Tomorrow we shouldn't be doing anything in bigger groups," she said.

Other Colgate seniors hurried to give out their Torch Medals, which honor⁷ a member of the school or local community who influenced their time there.

Before the cancellations, more than 500 Boston College (BC) seniors stayed up all night to watch the sunrise over the Chestnut⁸ Hill reservoir⁹. Louisa MacEwan is a senior at BC. She said the past three years have already been difficult for her, so she was hoping this year would be better.

Since speaking with The AP, MacEwan has developed signs of COVID-19 and remained in her off-campus¹⁰ apartment home.

"It's going to be different receiving a diploma in the mail versus¹¹ walking across the stage, and sharing those experiences with my friends," MacEwan said.

It is a tradition at Elon University in North Carolina for all first-year students to receive the seed of an oak¹² tree as a gift. Normally¹³, the school then gives seniors a small tree to plant at their next home.

"I wasn't super upset about it, but it's kind of sad that we're the only class that's not going to be able to do it, in however long that's been going on," Elon senior Ari Denberg said. "All those things I was planning to do over senior week, it's hard not getting that closure."

At Rice University in Texas, students traditionally walk through the school's main entrance, known as the Sallyport, only twice. They do it once during their first-year welcoming ceremony, and again at graduation.

After being told they would likely finish the term online from their homes, senior Christina Tan¹⁴ created a Facebook group to organize an unofficial ceremony. About one-fourth of Rice's 1,000-member senior class took part.

"People were crying when they saw how many people were there," said Tan. Students were worried the school would oppose the event because of an expected limit on large gatherings. Instead, some professors took part and even Rice President David Leebron came out from his office to take pictures.

"I was just so moved by the whole thing," he said. "(There was) that sense of sadness, but taking that difficult situation and finding¹⁵ something to do that made everybody who is there feel a little bit better."

Words in This Story

dress rehearsal – n. the final practice of a play that is done with all the costumes and scenery that will be used in the first real performance before an audience

nonessential – adj. not completely necessary

graduation – n. the act of receiving a diploma or degree from a school, college, or university

pandemic – n. an occurrence¹⁶ in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world

vigil – n. an event or a period of time when a person or group stays in a place and quietly waits or prays especially at night

campus - n. the area and buildings around a university, college, or school

diploma – n. a document which shows that a person has finished a course of study or has graduated from a school

versus – prep. used to present two different things or choices that are being compared or considered

upset – adj. angry or unhappy

1 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

2 conservatory   

n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的

参考例句：

• At the conservatory,he learned how to score a musical composition.在音乐学校里，他学会了怎样谱曲。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants.这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

3 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

4 grace   

n.优雅，雅致，魅力，恩惠，慈悲

参考例句：

• She is a beautiful girl with the grace and poise.她是一位仪态优雅的佳丽。
• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。

5 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

6 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

7 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

8 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

9 reservoir   

n.水库，蓄水池；(人才等的)储藏，汇集

参考例句：

• The town is supplied with water from a reservoir.该城镇由小山中的一座水库供水。
• A large quantity of water is stored in the reservoir.水库存了大量的水。

10 campus   

n.大学校园，学校校园；大学　

参考例句：

• They spoke of the old days on the campus.他们谈起昔日的校园生活。
• The campus covers an area of twenty square kilometres.这个校园占地二十平方公里。

11 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

12 oak   

n.栎树，橡树，栎木，橡木

参考例句：

• The chair is of solid oak.这把椅子是纯橡木的。
• The carpenter will floor this room with oak.木匠将用橡木铺设这个房间的地板。

13 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

14 tan   

n.鞣制革，黄褐色；adj.黄褐色的，鞣皮的；vt.晒黑，鞣(革)，鞭打；vi.晒成棕褐色

参考例句：

• She had gotten a good tan after the holiday at the sea.在海边度假之后，她的皮肤晒得黑黑的。
• His arms and legs had a dark tan.他的手臂和腿晒得黑黑的。

15 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

16 occurrence   

n.发生，出现，事件，发生的事件

参考例句：

• Two things account for its occurrence.发生这件事的原因有两个。
• For a military commander，winning or losing a battle is a common occurrence.胜败乃兵家常事。