An Open Letter to College Seniors
By Anne Standfest
It was March 13th, 2020. I had returned to campus from my last college spring break a few days earlier, and I was excited but sad to finish my last semester. I laid in bed on the rainy, cold day and contemplated whether or not to go to my night class, which was on the other side of camps. It didn’t stop raining, so I didn’t go. Little did I know that class was the last one Villanova held before joining many other universities and closing down for the remainder of the year. Classes, extracurricular activities, sports, and graduation ceremonies were all moved online and away from campus, the place we call home.
My friends and I, who are all seniors, sat and looked at each other in silence when we heard the news. Jaws dropped. We had a million questions, and at the time, no one had answers. Would we be able to stay in the area, close to our friends? How would class presentations and senior capstones change? Do I have to move back home? With my parents?! It took a few days before we had any answers, and the answers we got were not the ones we wanted. Most disappointing of all, graduation was cancelled. It felt like we’d worked too hard for this to happen.
There are simply no words to express how heavy our hearts are feeling right now. We’re back in our hometowns without the friends that became family, without the school that became home. We all remember the day we were accepted to Villanova, the day we committed, freshman move in day, and all the other milestones along the way. And just like that, the end is here.
During senior year, we had so many “last firsts,” and we marked them by taking pictures with friends and posting on social media. These include our last first day of school, our last syllabus week, or our last game at the Finneran Pavilion. While we got to experience these special moments, we didn’t know that our last day at Villanova would come a lot sooner than we planned. We didn’t know that we wouldn’t be able to walk across the graduation stage in May with thousands of our best friends to celebrate all of our accomplishments in and out of the classroom. Now more than ever, our futures seem to be looming over our heads. College life is ending, and we’re about to take our first steps into the world beyond.
With all of these changes, I think it’s important to take a step back and appreciate the time and moments we did get to have at Villanova. We need to remind ourselves and each other that we’re living in a truly unique time, and we don’t have control over what happens. We are all in this situation together. We will come together in the future and celebrate our accomplishments, because we deserve it. We will not let this part of our college experience overshadow the amazing experiences that we did have. Stay strong. Hang in there. You are not alone.
