Through difficulties, to the future

Seniors!

Last week, you all received news that commencement will be delayed due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19. With some of you unsure if you could attend a fall commencement, this news meant the abrupt end of college life and the beginning of an uncertain future.

Normally, The Stute sends off the seniors with an annual commencement issue, a tradition traced back to June 1907. But since we were forced online, we are honoring you all this week, in our final week of production.

Seniors, now more than ever, cherish the individuals and groups in the Stevens community that sustain you. We’ve seen that our community is at its strongest when we are together, even when we are apart. That the individuals and communities that matter most are not confined to a physical location or place. That at the heart of Stevens is its people.

Think back to the start of the pandemic. As days passed, we paused to check in with one another. We had Netflix parties and phone calls that lasted entire nights. We cracked jokes, binged reality T.V., and had llamas surprise our Zoom calls. We gave food to the most vulnerable, and we raised money for frontline workers. We put mental health first, and we advocated for what’s important. And each night, millions of us took to fire escapes, windows, and stoops, and we blasted air horns, clanked pots and pans, and screamed at the sky to say that nothing, certainly not this virus, will stop us from connecting with one another.

Soon, we will emerge from this crisis together. We will once again hold the people we miss, and we will rebuild a world that so desperately needs our help.

It’s okay to be unsure about the future. We are here for you, and we know your ingenuity will carve out life paths you never prepared for. If this pandemic has made you feel defeated, remember a lesson taught by the Stevens motto, per aspera ad astra — “through adversity to the stars.” It is only through adversity that we grow.

Seniors, you are and will forever be part of our community, and we wish you could have been given those last few weeks of Stevens and the commencement you deserve. But now you must go forward and support the world at a time when it needs you most. The world needs your motivation and creative spirits. It needs people who persist, who turn catastrophe into opportunity, and who embrace the uncertainty of what’s next.

Nobody knows what your future holds, but nonetheless we are excited to see what you accomplish. Seniors, make us proud!