After a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the sight of St. Clair College graduates wearing gowns and caps was a welcome one.
Hundreds of the graduates and their families gathered in downtown Chatham Thursday to celebrate the 55th convocation, this one held in person at the Capitol Theatre.
The sound of bagpipes rank out as graduates and their families assembled outside the theater for photographs following the ceremony.
Chatham resident Jillian Hyatt, 20, who graduated the two-year developmental service worker program, said she was excited there was convocation ceremony since she “didn’t get a Grade 12 graduation because of COVID.”
Fellow program graduate Ashlynn Tellier, 20, of Chatham noted her high school graduation was actually online, “so being in person was a nice change.”
Having a ceremony “feels more real,” said Alanna Hoogstad, 20, also a graduate of the developmental service worker program.
“If you just got an email saying ‘You’ve graduated,’ it doesn’t feel like your accomplishments were celebrated in a way,” she added.
The graduates were also glad that online classes had become a thing of the past.
“It was very nice getting back into class,” Tellier said. “I found online was very hard to get motivated. I joined a lot of classes while lying in my bed.”
Hoogstad said having in-person classes helped her “put faces and names together” since not all of her fellow students switched on cameras while participating online.
“It was nice to build those real live connections with everyone,” she said.
With return of in-person learning this past year, Emily Burdick, 20, liked being able to talk to faculty in her program instead of using email.
Alex Cubitt, 24, of Collingwood, who graduated the two-year power line program, said it was “pretty tough” to start the program with COVID restrictions in place.
“It was a better learning experience” when public-health restrictions were lifted during this past year, he added.
Now that’s he graduated, Cubitt is feeling good about his future.
“Hopefully, something opens up here soon and I start working,” he said.
Blake Morey, 26, of Kitchener, who graduated from the school’s paramedic program, praised St. Clair for accommodating necessary in-person learning.
While a lot of the course was completed online, the entirety of the needed practical skills were done in person,” he said.
“It was a nice mix, and I think they prioritized the practical skills in person,” he added.
Paramedic program instructor Mikey Parr said he hoped to never have to teach again under similar circumstances.
He found teaching some of the course online seemed quicker, saying many students were hesitant to speak over the microphone. The trouble, he suggested, was not knowing if his students understood what was being taught.
“I like the classroom because you can look at their facial reactions and see it in their eyes,” Parr said.
He said the majority of the graduating class had already been hired right out of school, including many working part time in Chatham and London.
Vinayaks Sherma, 22, an international student from India, graduated from the electrical technician program.
“It was a great experience,” he said, despite the challenges presented by the pandemic.
“But I believe in a lot of hard work so I got through the situation,” Sherma said. “Today, with blessing of my parents and teachers, I am standing here and I am very thankful to them.”