University of Arkansas graduates grateful for in-person commencement after COVID-19-affected high school graduation

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ( KNWA/KFTA ) — The University of Arkansas hosted commencement ceremonies for the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food & Life Sciences.

For many graduates it was a first: hearing their names called and walking across the stage in person. The majority of the University’s Class of 2024 didn’t have a normal high school graduation due to the physical distancing requirements of COVID-19 in 2020.

“It was very strange and weird, and just not being able to go see all of my friends who are also on the field,” Anna Rogers, a graduate of advertising and public relations, said of her high school graduation. “Seeing my family also distanced in the stands was very strange.”

Many of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences graduates liked Friday’s commencement better.

“Getting to be with all my closest friends, and getting to hear the music and the choir,” Rogers said. “Everyone all being together, my professors, that’s something super special and super sweet. I feel like I’ll cherish it for awhile.”

The thousands of family members in attendance also felt proud on Friday.

“Just watching her become the person that she’s growing into,” Jennifer Johnson, a mother of graduate Anna Johnson, said. “Seeing the fulfillment of little things I notice with her growing up, just seeing her passions come to life and watching her do this herself.”

Now, the graduates prepare for adulthood, which for some means graduate school, for others means starting careers and for one graduate, Sterling Senner, means marriage.

“I’m getting married in a couple of weeks, I’m moving to Bentonville and I’m starting a corporate job up there,” Senner, a graduate of psychology, said. “So many things changing, but it’s all amazing.”

For the graduates, their futures are molded by their time at the University of Arkansas. Senner said she’s “blessed to be able to call Fayetteville home.”

But now, she and Rogers — along with thousands of others — can proudly call themselves alumni of the University of Arkansas.

“It’s very surreal,” Senner said. “It just feels like a chapter closed.”

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