Written by Jelyn Leyva, Staff Writer for World Outspoken
For many graduates, these past months should have held moments of celebration. Many of them were anticipating walking down the aisle to that well-known tune “Pomp and Circumstance,” to be met at the end with a diploma and cheers from their friends and family in the stands. Perhaps, some of us are far removed from the feeling of graduation. We might even think that a cancelled graduation is the least of our world’s problems. While this may hit on some global reality, for our young people this does not resonate with their present realities. For many of our graduates, the ceremony is more than just an event, it is the celebration of years’ worth of accomplishment.
We at WOS want to recognize the accomplishment of our Mestizo graduates this year, and what better way to do this than to give them the stage? We got to sit down (virtually, of course) with a few Mestizo graduates and listen to their stories. We asked them what it was like to graduate during a pandemic. What were the difficulties and disappointments of finishing their final year online? And given the platform, what would you say to your fellow 2020 graduates? I was surprised both by the similarities and the insights of these Mestizo graduates, and I think it best to let them tell you. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the graduating class of 2020:
Hannah Hernandez
Graduated c/o 2020, Azusa Pacific University
Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a Minor in Christian Ministries
Hannah Hernandez grew up in a Mexican-American family. She is a fourth-generation US citizen. In our interview, she mentioned that her upbringing felt more American, as she grew up speaking English and her parents had also grown up in the States. However, she was quick to mention that her parents did not get their bachelor’s degrees (her mother completed up to her Associate’s). Nevertheless, in their household it was expected that she and her sisters would go to college. When the time came to apply, Hannah knew that she wanted to integrate her faith into her studies, and decided on Azusa Pacific University. In her beginning years, she found it daunting to discern on a major, but eventually decided on sociology after a trip studying abroad in South Africa, where she discovered her passion for helping people and pursuing justice.
Fast forward to her final year in APU, Hannah had a sense of purpose and excitement to finish school and proceed forward into a life pursing justice-oriented work. However, much of that eagerness changed in light of the events of Covid-19. Like many others, Hannah expressed a sense of being overwhelmed by all the changes with which she was faced in her final days of class. She had to say goodbye to friends, something she wasn’t anticipating doing for months. She had to move out of her dormitory. She had to get ready to begin online learning. All this happened over the course of a couple days.
Even in recollecting this experience, she broke from her story to articulate what it felt like in those moments: “You get to a point where you realize how you are not in control of things as much as think you are, or as much as you want to be.” She was honest with me on how frustrating the whole experience really was. While she knew that the decision to stop school and to postpone graduation was best for the student body, it took her a while to come to terms with the fact that her on-campus undergraduate life was over. Her candor spoke into not just the heartache of our 2020 graduates, but the rapid speed at which they had to adapt.
When asked what she would like to say to her fellow graduates, Hannah offered advice, that brings with it insightful context to our graduates experience: “Find a place to openly process, it’s okay to be disappointed. It’s a big deal.”
Jonathan Armijo
Graduated c/o 2020, Moody Bible Institute
Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral Studies and Ministry
Jonathan Armijo was born in Chile and moved to the States at the age of eighteen. His family moved out to the US, because his father accepted an offer to pastor a predominantly Puerto-Rican church in Philadelphia. With the encouragement of his father, Jonathan pursued a year of studying the Bible at Word of Life. There Jonathan expresses how the Lord radically confirmed a calling on his life to pursue ministry, which moved him to apply to Moody Bible Institute. Jonathan took his acceptance as affirmation of that calling into ministry.
At Moody, Jonathan pursued his studies in Pastoral Ministries, but that didn’t come without its own obstacles. Having grown up in a different culture, especially one that cultivates a strong sense of community, Jonathan found it took time to get used to the American culture of his peers, which he explains gives more preference to individuality. “It was not bad, it was just different,” he explained. Eventually, he found his rhythm and his place within the community on campus, even becoming a president of a student group. It was clear from our interaction that Jonathan has a heart geared towards his community, which made the events of Covid-19 sting all the more for Jonathan. Like Hannah, he was given very little time to vacate his dormitory, leave the campus, and say goodbye to his friends. It all caused a sense of whiplash for the recently graduated Jonathan.
“I was not able to process everything,” he explained in his summary of the events of his final semester. Furthermore, the physical separation from the community that he put forth so much effort to cultivate made it difficult to find motivation to finish his classes. On top of this, of course, was the disappointment of not getting to walk with them at graduation.
For Jonathan, walking down the aisle meant far more than just the hard work of an undergrad degree. It was the accumulation of the steps he took to get that diploma and the celebration of the community in which he invested. As he explains it, “It has an important sentimental value […], It’s about the entire process.”
When asked what he would like to say to his fellow graduates, Jonathan expressed his wishes with a contemplative sense of retrospect: “Take advantage of the moments you get to invest in people when you’re with them, because if that space is taken you may find that you will regret it.”
Leila Aguirre
Graduated c/o 2020, Azusa Pacific University
Bachelor of Arts in Social Work
Leila Aguirre is a first-generation student. Neither of her parents have a college degree. For this reason, her parents were strict with her in school because they wanted her to be well positioned to attend and complete college, something that was strongly emphasized by her family growing up. Leila was anticipating graduation to be a recognition of all of those years of work and discipline. Thus, not getting to walk down the aisle, was not just less than ideal for Leila, it was deeply disappointing. In our interview, Leila recognized that her diploma signifies more than just one person’s hard work. She explained that her degree was only possible through generations of resilience and sacrifice. As she so well articulates, “This degree isn't just for me but for my whole family. I was able to have opportunities that my family did not. My dad immigrated here by himself and tried to graduate from college but could not afford it, so he dropped out.”
For Leila and so many others, the loss of graduation brought with it its own set of heartaches and anxieties. In addition to all this, Leila revealed that the end of her degree was difficult in ways beyond just the change to online and lack of commencement. The events of Covid-19 expedited Leila’s transition from student to adult. “Post grad life also came earlier than I expected, which was hard for me.” Leila explains, “I was not ready to experience it all yet.” This brought its own complications, but it also robbed her of the gap in between, where celebration comes more naturally: “I didn’t get to hear how proud my dad was because there was no commencement. Obviously, I know that I still graduated, and he is proud of me, but I was really excited to hear those words on my graduation day.” For Leila, graduation carried with it a weight and a legacy of anticipation, and its loss brought an overwhelming sense of disappointment.
Nevertheless, despite all the disappointment at the end of college experience Leila has managed to maintain a bright and hopeful attitude. When asked what she would like to say to her fellow graduates of 2020, she with exclamatory excitement expressed that “nothing can take away all that was accomplished,” continuing to communicate that she believes they will all be made stronger after this experience.
Jaime Vergara
Graduated c/o 2020, Moody Bible Institute
Bachelor of Arts in Bible and Pastoral Studies
“Where I am from not many people graduate. This was meant to be a celebration for my whole community.”
Jamie Vergara is also a first-generation student, both of his parents immigrated from Mexico. Jamie was born in Colorado, but his family moved to Iowa so his parents could pursue work at a JBS pork processing plant which was known to hire immigrants of any status. Having been raised in a Spanish household, Jamie’s first language was Spanish, and because of this he needed to enroll in EL (English Learners) classes all throughout elementary, middle, and high school. By the time he began considering college he felt a sense of pressure from his mother to go to a school that would easily flow into a career, but at the time Jamie was connecting with his youth group at church. To the initial chagrin of his mother, he decided to apply to Moody Bible Institute. He went on to explain that he didn’t tell his mother of his intention to go to Bible school until his final years in high school, after he had already made up his mind. When asked what his mother’s initial reservation was, Jamie responded, “She was against me doing ministry, and it was usually the money thing that came up when she explained why.” Thankfully, however, Jamie’s mother eventually warmed to the idea and became supportive of his calling, enough to let him apply to Moody.
At Moody, Jamie learned a great deal. His time there gave him the space to work through some important aspects of his identity. Jamie explained that growing up, he had a hard time connecting to his Mexican roots, feeling a sense of shame at times due to the immigrant status of his parents and also feeling like an outlier among his peers. At Moody, he was given the opportunity to contend with this dissonance between heritage and place.
For these reasons, Jamie’s graduation meant more than just hard academic work, it was also a significant celebration for the efforts he put forth to understanding himself and the people around him. Finally, it was a testimony to the calling that God had on his life and his faithfulness to that calling.
Mestizo graduates of 2020, we see you, we celebrate you, and we are proud of all that you have accomplished. We recognize that God has been faithful in your stories. He has given you the strength to persevere, when it would have been easier to give up. He has given you and your communities the resilience to persist, even when it felt like the world was against you. We are hopeful for the work and the life that is ahead of you. We are assured through His promise that He will continue to be faithful to you.