The Geneva College senior class of 2020 left for spring break on March 6, 2020, unaware that they would not return to finish their degree on campus. Instead, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the students completed their college careers virtually from home, losing many of the traditional experiences of graduation.
Beginning job searches, new jobs or new academic pursuits in the months since was an experience unique to this group, and they have faced a set of challenges and opportunities unlike any other class.
A few members of the Class of 2020 shared snapshots of their experiences before leaving campus:
Jessica ‘20
Jessica found a job working at a digital marketing agency located in Harrisburg, PA. She is now a social media specialist, running ads and organic content for a variety of clients. She maintains relationships with businesses and formulates and executes strategic social media marketing plans. But in April and May of 2020, Jessica was at home finishing her communication degree.
She says, “Finishing my senior year at home provided a unique opportunity to spend a lot of time with my family. Being at home allowed me to strengthen relationships and reconnect with people with whom I lost touch.”
At the same time, Jessica says it was difficult disconnecting from the campus community in person and not seeing her classmates and professors outside of video calls. Ending the year in that manner was disorienting, but she managed to find her feet and hopes to continue to work remotely, move closer to family, travel and invest in the church over the next several years.
Annie ‘20
For someone who traveled with Geneva’s New Song music ministry every summer during college, the spring 2020 semester was the longest stretch Annie ‘20 had been at home since coming to Geneva four years earlier. It was quite an adjustment. She put up and took down a foldable card table as a desk every day, and she did much of her schoolwork outside.
After wrapping up her senior year, Annie began working at a grocery store and a preschool in her hometown in Virginia. She worked until the fall, when she joined the Chattanooga Fellows Program, which is directed by Jonathan Ingraham ’15 MAHE. In the program she has a paid internship with a nonprofit that provides sermon preparation resources to pastors. She also does communication work for a small construction firm her brother helped create.
Annie’s affection for Chattanooga, TN, has grown since she arrived. She says “As we learned in Humanities 103: love is not blind; it is bound. Chattanooga is not perfect by any means, but I find myself here, near family and church family, and I love it.”
Henry ‘20
Another Class of 2020 grad, Henry along with his fiancé, Alexandra, have an interest in international missions. Henry mentioned the positives and negatives of finishing his college career at home—the positive being spending unanticipated, additional time with family and the negatives being the lack of full closure of walking across the stage and saying goodbye in person to his friends and professors. He is working as an actuary for a healthcare company, using statistical analysis and computer programming to model budget forecasts.
Henry says, “The biggest takeaway I had from my Geneva experience was the importance of community. The Christian community at Geneva heavily impacted my faith and the way I go about my everyday life. From the strong friendships that developed in the basement of Pearce (Residence Hall) during my freshman year, to the close relationships that formed with many of my professors, God has used each one of these people to draw me closer to Him. Now, it is my role outside of Geneva to seek out relationships where God is able to use me to bring others into His ‘community.’”
Henry lives near Geneva and continues to attend a local church he began visiting when he was a freshman. When the pandemic first hit, they transitioned to fully virtual services, but in August of 2020 they were able to begin worship services outside.
“It definitely took some adjusting, but I was happy to still be able to worship the Lord every Sunday with my church family,” he explains.
Henry and Alexandra will marry in June and continue to live in Beaver Falls while Alexandra finishes a master’s degree at Geneva. They both share an interest in missions and want to spread God’s word and help to expand His Kingdom. The development of technologies for virtual work over the past year make that interest seem especially viable.
Henry says, “I have been blessed with the opportunity to work remotely, and we are hoping that eventually my fiancé will also be able to have this opportunity, so that we are able to work in whatever places God chooses to send us and use us to spread the Gospel.”
Geneva College recognizes the sacrifices that the Class of 2020 have made, especially finishing their senior year and graduating virtually in the midst of a pandemic. The college has raised the necessary funds for and will construct a new, large gazebo on campus in honor of the Class of 2020 and the challenges they have overcome. Geneva’s Physical Plant and the Department of Engineering are designing the gazebo as a meeting place and event space. It will be built in the center of campus between McKee Hall, McCartney Library, the Student Center and Old Main. For more information about Christian liberal arts education with a vocational focus, contact Geneva College admissions at admissions@geneva.edu | 800-847-8255.
Opinions expressed in the Geneva Blog are those of its contributors and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official position of the College. The Geneva Blog is a place for faculty and contributing writers to express points of view, academic insights, and contribute to national conversations to spark thought, conversation, and the pursuit of truth, in line with our philosophy as a Christian, liberal arts institution.
Aug 10, 2021
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