By: Megan Finlan ’21, co-editor in chief
It’s been more than a year since the pandemic began. A year since students were sent home from campus, and a year since the class of 2020 learned they would be without a traditional graduation. As the class of 2021 prepares to tackle life after LVC, three class of 2020 graduates share their experiences.
Claire Fitzgibbons
As a fall 2020 graduate, Claire Fitzgibbons wasn’t impacted by many of the issues COVID-19 caused on LVC’s campus. However, her perfect gap year before law school was ultimately uprooted.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English, Fitzgibbons knew she wanted to take a year off before heading to law school. Unfortunately, COVID-19 threw a wrench in her plans to travel. Rather than taking in some foreign sights, Fitzgibbons was stuck with the same day-to-day sights the Lebanon area had to offer.
“During my gap year, I applied to law school and worked, mostly, as an LSAT tutor,” Fitzgibbons said. “I also spent a lot of time hiking with Liam Schmidt, which was probably the highlight of my year. I was planning on spending the year traveling the world, and instead spent the year traveling to and from the kitchen to grab more snacks.”
Despite being homebound for the majority of her gap year, Fitzgibbons put her time to good use as she was able to complete the application process for 14 of the top law schools in the country. However, she expressed the difficulty in applying for law school during COVID-19 as schools saw a rise in applications, causing the admission cycle to be more competitive than usual. Fitzgibbons highlights the English department faculty for her success in being prepared to take on this next chapter in her life.
“The English department had some of my all-time favorite teachers, and I miss having them in class and sitting in the English suite trading stories with them,” Fitzgibbons said. “They prepared me for applying and going to law school better than I could have imagined, and I am so grateful to them for all of their guidance and feedback on my writing and analytical skills.”
Looking forward, Fitzgibbons is set to attend University of Pennsylvania Law School, ranked 7th in the country by U.S. News, this upcoming fall.
Claire’s advice to the class of 2021: Be ambitious. A year ago, I would have never imagined that I would be attending the 7th ranked law school in the country, but I set my sights high and worked hard to get to where I wanted to be. With drive and work ethic, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
Brandon Roy
While some students took a year off before heading to graduate school because of COVID-19, Brandon Roy headed straight to Cornell University this past fall after completing his undergraduate degree in the spring.
Roy graduated in spring 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry & molecular biology, and he is now a Ph.D. student at Cornell where he is enrolled in the plant pathology and plant-microbe program. In spite of COVID-19, Roy is able to enjoy a, somewhat, normal experience as a graduate student.
“My daily life involves many virtual classes and some socially distanced research in my lab,” Roy said. “I joined Marc Fuchs’ group to study Grapevine fanleaf virus and its molecular characteristics behind infection. I have only LVC to thank for preparing me for the courses during grad school – it’s been a blast.”
Even though Roy’s time is mostly filled with classes, labs and studying, he is looking forward to the graduation LVC has planned for the class of 2020 this upcoming May.
“I certainly hope I’ll be able to make the journey back to LVC for graduation in May, of course following all CDC guidelines and my university’s restrictions for travel,” Roy said. “I was able to get vaccinated early from participating in a COVID-19 vaccine trial, so I’m less concerned as I see more and more people also get the vaccine. I’m most looking forward to seeing my friends and classmates to see what they’ve done in their time since the shutdown.”
Looking forward, Roy has his sights set on completing his Ph.D. at Cornell and aspires to one day teach in a college setting.
Brandon’s advice to the class of 2021: Keeping in touch with classmates will help you navigate the unknown waters beyond LVC. Even if you are fortunate enough to know your next steps, the friends you make at LVC are for life, and mine have brought stability to my life even during the pandemic when we are hundreds of miles away.
Paige Bryson
As a New Hampshire native, Paige Bryson found herself staying in Pennsylvania for her work after being sent home early during her final undergraduate semester.
Being an out-of-state student, Bryson was fortunate enough to have her fiancé, now husband, to stay with when LVC announced the campus closure. Looking back after over a year from that day, Bryson still feels emotional over how her senior year ended.
“It was like knowing a storm was coming and not being able to do anything to prep for it,” Bryson said. “It was a really anxious time. I had really been looking forward to graduation to close out the year, get photos with my friends, professors and colleagues and enjoy the energy that comes with the last few weeks of senior year. So, when we knew we weren’t coming back, and I realized none of that would be happening, I was so sad. To be honest, I still don’t really feel like I have the closure I needed to finish out the year.”
Even without the closure granted by a traditional graduation, Bryson was able to move forward to continue her job search for post-graduation. While she fully intended beginning a full-time job in May, her transition into the workforce was delayed due to hiring freezes caused by COVID-19. Bryson now works as a permit coordinator for Momentum Solar and has been with the company since August.
Despite passing the one-year mark of completing her bachelor’s degree in English, Bryson can’t help but reminisce on the aspects of college life and LVC that she misses.
“I miss a lot of things about LVC,” Bryson said. “I miss all the places to chill out on campus, easy access to the gym and of course my professors. But I think the biggest thing I miss is my friends and just being around people. I miss conversations over dinner, catching up in passing and chatting in between classes. It was nice when these things just happened naturally, rather than being scheduled times since we’re all apart.”
After being sent off with a virtual graduation in 2020, Bryson is looking forward to coming back to campus to celebrate in-person with her fellow graduates in May.
Paige’s advice to the class of 2021: Take it all in. Enjoy every second of it because you won’t get another undergraduate graduation/senior week. And take as many pictures as possible.