As 2020 has been a turbulent year of ups and down, the global pandemic in our midst has caused an upheaval of normal life. For two seniors from Marlboro, COVID-19 has led to a change in perspective.

Confusion runs through both Madi Ross, a SUNY New Paltz fourth-year international relations major, and Thomas McLaughlin, a fourth-year textile and surface design major from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).

“I don’t think anybody is 100 percent ready to move into their field, and for those who feel they are, congrats. Tell us your secret,” Ross said. “I’m still trying to figure out the old “what do you want to be when you grow up?” question. Wherever I end up, whether that’s continuing on with my education, getting a job in the field right away or moving abroad and starting all over, I do know I look forward to whatever may lie ahead.”
McLaughlin says he is lucky enough to be somewhat comfortable in his career path post-grad, making the adjustment to this lifestyle easier. The struggle to find the motivation to look for jobs has been on McLaughlin’s mind, but he was interning with fashion designer Tory Burch in Manhattan before the outbreak.

“I am fortunate enough to have a guaranteed job with the company when we do return back to normalcy,” McLaughlin said.

With the future unknown, it is understandable that the two would have mixed emotions about their current situation. Ross, on the other hand, enjoys this time.

In mid-February, the SUNY New Paltz campus was evacuated due to unsafe drinking water conditions, adding another bump in the semester. Soon, COVID-19 cleared out campus in mid-March, ending Ross’ senior year as she knew it.

“Being a senior during these disruptions means I’m more comfortable asking for help from professors, knowing which resources are available on campus, having friends and classmates to reach out to from previous semesters and knowing how to navigate the dreaded blackboard system,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine being a freshman and needing to figure out the “rules” of college during all of this. I think for many seniors, it is a scary reality that we are about to graduate with a pandemic and a pending recession.”

There are many positives and negatives to this situation, where graduations are postponed, it is harder to find a job and final moments with friends are gone. “With every bad there has to be a good,” McLaughlin said.

“This is the first year in many that I’m home for my father’s birthday or Mother’s Day, things I usually miss when I’m away at college. I’m actually super grateful in that sense,” McLaughlin continued.

In regards to family, having the opportunity to showcase their success to their loved ones during a graduation is very important. SUNY New Paltz and FIT both moved their graduations to virtual commencement ceremonies, postponing the walk of graduates in the spring of 2020.

Ross feels that although graduation is usually very boring, the virtual commencement is the “least-worst way,” as the celebration is often for family members and it is disappointing not having the graduation everyone hoped for. McLaughlin is in agreement on not loving an online ceremony and is expecting to attend the rescheduled graduation in October, but it allows colleagues from all over the world to be “together” for the virtual alternative.

Along with many others, the perplexity of the future has become more prominent in their minds. 2020 graduates are a generation of people who have suffered their first adverse situation, on a global scale.

“I think we’re all feeling similar emotions and thinking similar thoughts,” McLaughlin said. “But everyone handles these situations differently. Some fall off the face of the earth and remote themselves completely while others thrive in this new “normal” lifestyle.”