Unsurprisingly, however, the ceremony will be delivered virtually, a product of a relentless pandemic that has gripped the world for nearly a year now. While the in-person commencement ceremony in May was canceled – replaced with an online celebration – this time around seems tougher. The tunnel seems much longer than most of us expected. 

Still, despite some pandemic weariness, our graduates are also tougher, and they’re not willing to let this lingering crisis rain on their milestone.

“It’s been a wild ride. I’m grateful for this experience and I believe this has made me mentally stronger,” said Charice Johnson, a Louisville native graduating with a communication degree. She notes that the beginning of 2020 was a bigger challenge, particularly the transition to work-from-home in March. She balanced her job with Student Affairs, with her education, with raising a fourth grader, who is also learning from home.

Johnson leaned on the positives; for example, being at home allowed her to accomplish tasks she would have otherwise been too tired to do in the evenings. UofL HR’s Learning Cafes also helped keep her optimistic.

“Often, employees may feel besides themselves in certain situations, but those workshops have maintained a sense of community,” she said. “I’ve been able to seize opportunities to grow and learn as both an employee and a student.”

Johnson plans to continue working for UofL as a program assistant, senior for the University Career Center, while expanding her education by taking online courses provided by various institutions.

Meherunissa Naseem, a biology major/psychology minor from India, also believes she is graduating with sharpened resiliency.

“Though finishing my degree in the middle of a pandemic and not having a traditional ceremony or celebrating with friends and family is not what I have expected, I still feel fortunate to be able to accomplish the biggest dream of my life,” she said.

Naseem identifies bigger challenges, such as graduating debt-free and transitioning from India to the United States.

“When look back at it all, the decision I made and all the challenges I faced, I feel blessed and grateful,” she said, acknowledging her strong support system in her family.

Naseem chose to endure those challenges and attend UofL because of its diversity and research opportunities. When asked what she loves most about her soon-to-be-alma-mater, she simply answers, “Everything – the infrastructure, the buildings, the professors, the faculty, the staff, the students.”

Next, Naseem plans to move to a different state and gain some experience in biology before choosing a grad school to attend.

Kendall Ruber, a graduate student from Butler, Kentucky, describes the experience of finishing her degree in the middle of a global pandemic as simply, “surreal.”

“At the beginning of the pandemic, when we had to convert to online instruction on a whim, my classes seemed like a blur, and time seemed to move both fast and slow at the same time,” she said. “As the months have passed, it still seems like the concept of time doesn’t exist anymore. I still have trouble processing the fact that my graduation occurred and that eight months have passed since we were last in the classroom together.”

Adjusting to online learning has been a challenge for Ruber, particularly as she also works a full-time job.

“It was grueling to be sitting at my desk alone for upwards of 14 hours a day without any human interaction,” she said, describing herself as a “people person.”

She is trying to keep herself positive by remembering what she is grateful for. That includes a field – business analytics – where she can work remotely, watching her friends and classmates chasing their dreams and staying healthy.

Ruber, who also earned her undergraduate degree at UofL, chose to the school because of its diversity.

“UofL has exposed me to various cultures, identities and ideologies and I have come out a better person and professional because of it,” she said. “UofL has pushed me to challenge everything I had previously experienced coming into college. Growing up in an extremely homogenous community, I had a very narrow view of the world. UofL broke down many of those barriers and continued to introduce me to people and places that would allow me to grow.”

Ruber is currently assisting teaching statistics for UofL’s Online MBA program and hopes to one day become a data scientist.

From surreal to “overjoyed.” That’s how Tony Hobson, who is graduating with an organizational leadership and learning degree, describes finishing his degree amid this unusual environment. 

“I am so overjoyed it’s actually happening,” he said. Hobson, who started his college experience in the early 1990s, keeps himself optimistic by looking for meaning behind these challenges.

“At the end of the day, if we’re going to get through these tough times, there has to be a purpose,” he said.

Hobson’s post-graduate plans are to pursue management-based positions, possibly in transportation, and to further his acting career.

Christian Loriel Lucas reflects on her time at UofL with a deep sense of pride and relief. The 35-year-old mom juggled attending school amid a pandemic with working full-time at the School of Medicine with having a child learning from home and another child whose daycare was closed.

“It was a lot to deal with. I cried a few times. I laugh about it now,” she said.

Lucas recalls one night in particular when her children were running around upstairs and her husband was on a work call. She was hunkered down in the basement trying to focus on a literary theory question for class.

“I ended up sobbing over one question. My brain just couldn’t focus,” she said. “But I survived it. The biggest challenge has been trying to keep it all together – family and work came first, school came second.”

Still, at times, she had to swap priorities and leave the house to get some peace and quiet for her schoolwork. Other times, she couldn’t bond with her cohort because she was with her family.

“I had no time for life outside of work and home, but I utilized every moment I had to get things done,” Lucas said. “I knew I couldn’t do everything, but I managed to keep myself and my family afloat.”

Her family, and the support they provided, is what sustained and motivated her. She also acknowledges a strong support system among her coworkers, friends and professors.

“Knowing that somebody was rooting for me was the positive energy I needed to keep going,” Lucas said. “I really felt bad at times for taking my family through this just so I could get my degree. But they are so proud of me.”

Lucas’ post-graduation plans are to continue her creative writing career and she plans to write “a lot.” Her work has already been published, ,” a publication that celebrates Black women writers.

There have been many hurdles on the path to commencement for spouses Diane Endicott and Kim Clark. But this month, they both achieve their long-held dreams of graduating from UofL.

Clark received her cap and gown days before she turned 50 this month. “It’s a really big thing for me. I took it out of the box and started crying,” Clark said.

Then she posed in the regalia and sent jubilant selfies around to relatives, teachers and former UofL co-workers.

“It’s almost surreal that it’s going to happen,” Endicott said, pausing from working on her last paper in the library in late November. The registered nurse started pursuing her master’s degree in exercise physiology in 2015 after a health diagnosis made her think more strategically about wellness and aging in considering her next steps.

She took a few classes and did OK, in her words, although she felt “way in over my head,” and was set to resume in 2018 when her mother fractured her hip the day before the start of classes. So Endicott sat out a year in caring for her and then for her father, who became ill. She returned determined to stay the course.

The faculty and staff in her College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development program permitted her flexibility to deal with what life dealt along the way – “yeah, family stuff comes first” – and encouraged her success. “I appreciate it when the professors are really about you learning things,” she said.

Then when it was time to do her required clinical internship this spring, COVID-19 interfered with the most likely in-person opportunities so she had to figure out with the help of her internship adviser how to make that work. She took an extension and put together a summer project expanding on research into a motivational interviewing tool for workshops to approach mental health, exercise, alcohol addiction and disease processes.

“You can tell people what to do but if they’re not motivated, it’s just wasted air,” Endicott said.

Motivation is clearly abundant in the Endicott-Clark household. Endicott already had begun her graduate studies when they married in 2016, and Clark always intended to continue her education. But 20 years after earning her associate degree in Paducah, Clark had “major anxieties” about seeking her bachelor’s despite having worked at UofL since 2014.

However, she applied UofL’s tuition remission benefit to afford her classes – two every spring and fall semester and one last summer – that led to her new degree in organizational leadership and learning. She left her Physical Plant job as a program assistant senior and then service coordinator about three months ago to become a facilities coordinator for LG&E.

Along the way the two have encouraged each other, quizzed each other before tests and helped with technological struggles.

“It’s been challenging – just to write a paper in its proper form” when starting out,” Clark said. “My first paper – I gave it to my wife – and she said, ‘Oh, honey, this needs a lot of work.’”

But then, through determination, discipline and the support of helpful advisers and faculty members, things got easier.

“Her confidence grew so much,” Endicott said. And Endicott felt less guilty about the family time spent on studies.

“It really has been helpful because we both pushed each other,” Clark said. “It’s nice when you have a cheerleader who lives with you.”

So what’s next, now that the couple can reclaim the home study spaces and think about the future? The two will have another graduation to celebrate when Endicott’s daughter, Jordan, earns her Spalding University bachelor’s degree in 2021.

Endicott, who confesses to having too many interests, continues her nursing work but will explore various ways to help others improve their well-being. “I know I’m going to use it, but it’s also about personally achieving this goal.”

“There’s going to be a whole sea of people after the pandemic who need help with their health,” Endicott said.

“Meanwhile, I want to develop a free exercise program for my church,” she said, hoping to figure out a combination exercise program and health and wellness instruction.

Both have “it’s never too late” advice for others who are pondering whether they can pursue an academic degree.

Endicott said to not give in to fear, to not let technology hold you back, to use the Writing Center’s helpful services, take courses related to research areas and to befriend librarians.

“Just try it – one baby step after another,” she said.

“No matter how long it takes you, you can reach that goal,” Clark added. “It’s huge for me. It’s just something I’ve wanted to do. I’m smiling from one ear to the other.”

Unsurprisingly, however, the ceremony will be delivered virtually, a product of a relentless pandemic that has gripped the world for nearly a year now. While the in-person commencement ceremony in May was canceled – replaced with an online celebration – this time around seems tougher. The tunnel seems much longer than most of us expected. 

Still, despite some pandemic weariness, our graduates are also tougher, and they’re not willing to let this lingering crisis rain on their milestone.

“It’s been a wild ride. I’m grateful for this experience and I believe this has made me mentally stronger,” said Charice Johnson, a Louisville native graduating with a communication degree. She notes that the beginning of 2020 was a bigger challenge, particularly the transition to work-from-home in March. She balanced her job with Student Affairs, with her education, with raising a fourth grader, who is also learning from home.

Johnson leaned on the positives; for example, being at home allowed her to accomplish tasks she would have otherwise been too tired to do in the evenings. UofL HR’s Learning Cafes also helped keep her optimistic.

“Often, employees may feel besides themselves in certain situations, but those workshops have maintained a sense of community,” she said. “I’ve been able to seize opportunities to grow and learn as both an employee and a student.”

Johnson plans to continue working for UofL as a program assistant, senior for the University Career Center, while expanding her education by taking online courses provided by various institutions.

Meherunissa Naseem, a biology major/psychology minor from India, also believes she is graduating with sharpened resiliency.

“Though finishing my degree in the middle of a pandemic and not having a traditional ceremony or celebrating with friends and family is not what I have expected, I still feel fortunate to be able to accomplish the biggest dream of my life,” she said.

Naseem identifies bigger challenges, such as graduating debt-free and transitioning from India to the United States.

“When look back at it all, the decision I made and all the challenges I faced, I feel blessed and grateful,” she said, acknowledging her strong support system in her family.

Naseem chose to endure those challenges and attend UofL because of its diversity and research opportunities. When asked what she loves most about her soon-to-be-alma-mater, she simply answers, “Everything – the infrastructure, the buildings, the professors, the faculty, the staff, the students.”

Next, Naseem plans to move to a different state and gain some experience in biology before choosing a grad school to attend.

Kendall Ruber, a graduate student from Butler, Kentucky, describes the experience of finishing her degree in the middle of a global pandemic as simply, “surreal.”

“At the beginning of the pandemic, when we had to convert to online instruction on a whim, my classes seemed like a blur, and time seemed to move both fast and slow at the same time,” she said. “As the months have passed, it still seems like the concept of time doesn’t exist anymore. I still have trouble processing the fact that my graduation occurred and that eight months have passed since we were last in the classroom together.”

Adjusting to online learning has been a challenge for Ruber, particularly as she also works a full-time job.

“It was grueling to be sitting at my desk alone for upwards of 14 hours a day without any human interaction,” she said, describing herself as a “people person.”

She is trying to keep herself positive by remembering what she is grateful for. That includes a field – business analytics – where she can work remotely, watching her friends and classmates chasing their dreams and staying healthy.

Ruber, who also earned her undergraduate degree at UofL, chose to the school because of its diversity.

“UofL has exposed me to various cultures, identities and ideologies and I have come out a better person and professional because of it,” she said. “UofL has pushed me to challenge everything I had previously experienced coming into college. Growing up in an extremely homogenous community, I had a very narrow view of the world. UofL broke down many of those barriers and continued to introduce me to people and places that would allow me to grow.”

Ruber is currently assisting teaching statistics for UofL’s Online MBA program and hopes to one day become a data scientist.

From surreal to “overjoyed.” That’s how Tony Hobson, who is graduating with an organizational leadership and learning degree, describes finishing his degree amid this unusual environment. 

“I am so overjoyed it’s actually happening,” he said. Hobson, who started his college experience in the early 1990s, keeps himself optimistic by looking for meaning behind these challenges.

“At the end of the day, if we’re going to get through these tough times, there has to be a purpose,” he said.

Hobson’s post-graduate plans are to pursue management-based positions, possibly in transportation, and to further his acting career.

Christian Loriel Lucas reflects on her time at UofL with a deep sense of pride and relief. The 35-year-old mom juggled attending school amid a pandemic with working full-time at the School of Medicine with having a child learning from home and another child whose daycare was closed.

“It was a lot to deal with. I cried a few times. I laugh about it now,” she said.

Lucas recalls one night in particular when her children were running around upstairs and her husband was on a work call. She was hunkered down in the basement trying to focus on a literary theory question for class.

“I ended up sobbing over one question. My brain just couldn’t focus,” she said. “But I survived it. The biggest challenge has been trying to keep it all together – family and work came first, school came second.”

Still, at times, she had to swap priorities and leave the house to get some peace and quiet for her schoolwork. Other times, she couldn’t bond with her cohort because she was with her family.

“I had no time for life outside of work and home, but I utilized every moment I had to get things done,” Lucas said. “I knew I couldn’t do everything, but I managed to keep myself and my family afloat.”

Her family, and the support they provided, is what sustained and motivated her. She also acknowledges a strong support system among her coworkers, friends and professors.

“Knowing that somebody was rooting for me was the positive energy I needed to keep going,” Lucas said. “I really felt bad at times for taking my family through this just so I could get my degree. But they are so proud of me.”

Lucas’ post-graduation plans are to continue her creative writing career and she plans to write “a lot.” Her work has already been published, ,” a publication that celebrates Black women writers.

Participants will see — via video — many elements of a traditional commencement. Pomp and circumstance will play. Administrators will appear in cap and gown. The president, provost, deans and students will deliver their comments and congratulations.

And every graduate will have their moment — akin to crossing the stage — where their name, degree and honors appear on the video. Names will be announced audibly and, if a photo or special message was submitted before the deadline, that too will appear.

Because the event follows a traditional format and recognizes each student, it differs from last spring’s web-based celebration that honored nearly 3,200 May graduates. Those May graduates, as well as the summer and winter graduates, will be included in the upcoming virtual commencement because organizers wanted to give special recognition to all 2020 graduates.

Some hallmarks of the upcoming event include:

• There will be 12 separate web-based ceremonies, one for each of the university’s colleges and schools. That keeps the ceremonies to a manageable size and enables students to graduate with their classmates.
• Since spring, summer and fall 2020 graduates are all included, it will be one of the largest commencements in university history. More than 5,300 scholars are expected to be recognized.
• 2020 graduates can take part in any future in-person commencement if they wish to do so.

Planning for virtual commencement began months ago after university officials determined an in-person event, even with modifications, would pose a significant health risk. The decision — called “gut wrenching” by one administrator — came after weeks of consultations with students, health and infectious disease experts, government leaders and others.

“First and foremost, we had to protect our students, their families, campus community and larger community,” said Dean of Students Michael Mardis.

Mardis points out that if an in-person ceremony had been planned, escalating COVID 19 cases and new restrictions would have forced a cancellation.

Senior political science and history major Zach Pennington, who is part of the Student Government Association and a member of virtual commencement planning team, said virtual commencement is “the reality of this year.”

Even though he is not one of the graduates, he plans to watch the celebration.

“To me, the most important part of graduation will be the celebratory aspect with friends and family. Virtual commencement provides just that. It is an opportunity to celebrate accomplishments in the safest way possible while also thanking the people who have helped you along the way,” Pennington said.

More information can be found at . Links to the 12 school-based ceremonies will not appear until Dec. 12 and will remain available for viewing after the event.