Alumna rediscovers purpose and community through convocation

I remember the day my life changed forever like it was yesterday: March 11, 2020, a Wednesday like any other. I took the GO Train to my internship at a radio station during the day and I was going to attend my weekly meeting at The Eyeopener that evening. I watched the TV playing CP24 as I sat in the shawarma place in Liberty Village during my lunch break, the breaking news reading “WHO declares Covid-19 a global pandemic.” I made nervous eye contact with the people around me, low whispers filling the room. At the end of the work day at the radio station, my manager told me that we’d be working from home for a couple of weeks. I had about 6 weeks left in my internship, so I joked to one of my colleagues: “If I never see you again, it was nice working with you.” My meeting at The Eyeopener was cancelled, and it wouldn’t be until two years later at convocation, just this past week, that I would see most of my peers and classmates again. 

When university ended, I was unemployed for six months, taking on just a handful of freelance opportunities in journalism and creative fields like poetry and comedy. To be completely honest, I didn’t have the emotional capacity to work full time. The pandemic affected me immeasurably. I was severely depressed and isolated and I lost the momentum and motivation I had right before the pandemic. 

Seemingly overnight, everything I worked for over four years came to a sudden end. I had a promising internship and a fulfilling job at the school newspaper. I was also a part of Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) slam poetry team, and we were supposed to go to Richmond, VA for a national slam poetry competition in April. Over the winter semester, we spent several nights a week writing, memorizing, choreographing and rehearsing, and on March 13, we were told our competition was cancelled. Convocation was postponed indefinitely and my post-graduation travel plans with my friends were off. 

By the time fall 2020 came around, I fell into a retail job that I could, thankfully, still work at throughout various lockdowns, albeit minimally. Over the course of the following year, I gained a bit more footing in my freelancing that ebbed and flowed with the pandemic. By early 2022, I landed a few teaching contracts around the Greater Toronto Area. For the first time in two years, I was starting to feel settled in my career path.

This past March, TMU announced that convocation would take place in June for all 2020 and 2021 graduates. Initially, I was uncertain about attending because I was immediately reminded about everything that I lost. There were so many opportunities and friendships that fell apart or ended through no choice of my own. I was forced to create my own closure and ending to my university experience while the world was in a devastating place.

Despite the hesitation, I felt excited to reconnect with everyone and give my time at TMU a proper goodbye. When I walked through the doors of the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) and I saw my friends and classmates, I was overwhelmed with the joy of familiarity and community. I was eager to catch up with as many people as possible and I was consistently inspired by their accomplishments. While I waited to cross the stage, I reflected upon the aspirations and the passions I had before the pandemic. Trying to start a new chapter of my life during a time of fear, uncertainty and turmoil was extremely difficult, and I lost sight of what I actually wanted post-graduation. I left convocation feeling fulfilled and satisfied that I decided to come back for my ceremony. 

Although the pandemic and its effects on society are far from over, I have a new perspective about my career and I’ve regained motivation to pursue my goals. Although life changed in a split-second, the person I was before the pandemic is still within me. Convocation helped me put the pieces back together and I feel ready to continue rebuilding the next chapter of my life. And this time, it’s on my own terms.