How Spring 2020 College Student are Living During Pandemic, Post-Graduation

Students gathered around UTRGV’s Edinburg campus to take their graduation photos. Some dressed in flashy caps with two or more stoles and cords draped over their gowns. Others wore a Sunday’s best since their graduation package hadn’t arrived. Distant chatter and laughter came from the eager Spring 2020 graduates, their families and hired photographers. Families smiled seeing one of their own graduating with a college diploma.

These photos were not only for memorabilia; they were used for the virtual graduation. More than 3,000 graduating seniors participated in this first-ever event, which occurred on May 30. Participants tuned in to a 30-minute stream on UTRGV’s website that featured Guy Bailey, the university president; Patricia McHatton, former executive vice president for Academic Affairs and P-16 Intergradation; Dr. John Krouse, executive vice president for Health Affairs and the dean for the School of Medicine; and Parwinder Grewal, executive vice president for Research, Graduate Studies and New Program Development.

During the virtual event, videos played showing the different colleges and each graduate’s name, affiliated college, degree type and respective Latin honors. The digital ceremony concluded with final comments, the traditional ringing of the bell by biomedical science graduate Briana Cortez and the playing of the alma mater.

Spring 2020 seniors are graduating in a unique environment–amid a pandemic. The United States lost over 20.6 million jobs, doubling the 8.7 million loss during the 2007-2009 Great Recession, according to the University of Minnesota.

An estimated 2 million bachelor degree recipients have entered a harsh job market. Rodrigo Barrera III, a UTRGV Spring 2020 mechanical engineering graduate from Palmview, has felt the stress of the mass job losses. He’s been hunting for one since Spring Break, right when the COVID-19 cases started to rise. Barrera got an interview with Toyota in April, but he said the company informed him that it paused its hiring for engineering and co-ops positions. Although the opportunity was lost, Barrera found another job posting at Stanley Black and Decker, a tools provider, in Mission. He interned there prior. He sent an email to the company about the posting, but it took down the position because of a lack of funding, according to Barrera.

“Well, you can’t really do much, just [have to] keep moving forward,” Barrera said. “Everything happened for a reason. Maybe destiny has a better job for me in the future.”

As Barrera continues to search for a job during the pandemic, he’ll work on his master’s degree in engineering management at UTRGV. He found that to be a better option instead of sitting at home doing nothing. He debated on several other degrees but chose engineering management to diversify his background and increase his chances of finding jobs. To pay for his next degree, he paid over $40,000 out of pocket with money he saved up during the summer. He’s expecting by October to get a scholarship that’ll cover up to a Ph.D.

Eric Garcia, a UTRGV Spring 2020 psychology graduate from Harlingen, has been active in maintaining his stress. While on a walk around his neighborhood in June, he came across a black and white kitten inside of an orchard. The kitten followed him home and Garcia named him Sylvester. The kitten was taken to a veterinarian because it had worms, ear mites, an injured paw and an eye infection; the bill was about $300.

“Well, I’ve actually been wanting a pet for a while,” Garcia said via Zoom. “He’s helped me [maintain stress] because he’s something to have around. He sleeps with me and is very affectionate. He follows me upstairs. He follows me downstairs. It’s like getting a new friend.”

And Garcia wasn’t the only person to take in a pet during the COVID-19 pandemic. Animal shelters across the U.S. saw many people adopting or fostering, especially with shelter-at-home orders being issued. Baytown Texas Adoption Center, for instance, was able to clear out its shelter by March 28.

With Sylvester at Garcia’s side, the Harlingen native will work on a master’s degree in school psychology at UTRGV. He also gotten accepted to Texas A&M University Corpus Christi to study clinical psychology before choosing UTRGV.

The class of Spring 2020 entered a time not filled with endless possibilities for jobs but a pandemic that halted the world. Barrera had friends who worked as engineers at oil companies that got laid off. “It’s affected everybody, even school,” he added. This is just another case of 2020 being a historically bad year. Those affected, however, are finding support within hobbies or families.