Bradley Speck, Anita Balaji, Eric Hartman, Lizzy Carr and Sean Mahaney were expecting to walk across the stage this weekend with more than 4,300 Rochester Institute of Technology students—a record number of graduates.
Instead, they will be celebrating at home with their families or friends.
Today’s celebration of the Class of 2020 certainly cannot replace the atmosphere of a traditional commencement, which RIT plans to host on campus when it’s deemed safe. But many of the graduates taking part in in today’s virtual ceremony, necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic which requires social distancing, say they won’t let the pandemic, or the circumstances surrounding the virtual celebration, define them or their feelings about their time at RIT.
This year’s university graduates are entering the job market at an uncertain time, due to economic fallout from the pandemic. And while RIT will not have a full picture of outcomes for this year’s graduates for a while, many companies are reporting that they plan to honor co-op and employment offers they have made to RIT students, said Maria Richart, director of Career Services and Cooperative Education.
“We may see the start date moved, a change to remote work or some other adjustments,” Richart said. “But these companies are telling us that they view our graduates as important talent additions to their staffs, and they plan to bring them on.”
Their paths after graduation are varied. Some are pursuing higher degrees in graduate school. Some are earning their degree to better their career. Some will join the military. And some have snagged their dream jobs.
RIT President David Munson says the graduating students, which includes students at RIT campuses in Croatia, Kosovo, Dubai and China, have met this challenge of resiliency.
The ceremony begins at 5 p.m. eastern time and will include remarks from Munson; Ellen Granberg, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs; and Student Government President Anika Aftab. Congratulatory messages from faculty and staff and live tweets will also be posted.
The ceremony will conclude with the conferring of degrees and a toast to the Class of 2020.
Co-ops lead to a career
Speck, a cross-registered student from RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, will receive his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He’ll be watching the ceremony at home in York, Pa., with his family.
“Looking back, I’ve been in college for a long time,” he said. “I’ll miss my friends, but I’m excited to be done so that I can get on with my journey. It will be nice to move on to a professional level.”
Speck, who will finish his classes online this summer, has a job waiting for him at GE Aviation in Cincinnati, where he completed four co-ops while at RIT. He’ll be working full-time and taking classes in a master’s program they offer in their Edison Engineering Development Program.
During his co-ops, he did testing and engineering, worked on computers, did analysis and spot checks, designed a better airfoil vane insert and developed new tests for fixture designs. His passion for engineering developed from his love of science and math, and his work with robots in high school.
And he says RIT, which connected him with his co-ops, prepared him well for his future employer.
“RIT really encouraged me to develop my critical thinking skills,” Speck said.
Source: RIT News – https://www.rit.edu/news/record-number-rit-students-graduate