Emotional ceremony caps tough year for Fresno State graduates. ‘It’s a really big deal’

When Samantha Gillis started her last semester at Fresno State for her master’s degree, she thought her only graduation celebration would be held in her mother’s backyard by the swimming pool.

“Graduating in front of my family is really emotional because I didn’t think we were going to have that opportunity,” the 31-year-old told The Bee’s Education Lab. “It’s a really big deal.”

Along with dozens of her peers, Gillis graduated at Friday’s ceremony for the Kremen School of Education and Human Development. The morning ceremony at Bulldog Stadium marks one of the first local in-person graduation ceremonies since schools and universities shut down in March 2020 to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

Fresno State students and many other college and high school graduates around the country were robbed of graduation ceremonies, parties, and proms because of the global pandemic.

More than 6,700 people are graduating from Fresno State in the 2020-21 school year. During the 2019-20 academic year, more than 6,100 degrees were awarded.

When Fresno State officials announced there would be in-person graduations this spring, Gillis said it was “very exciting,” and she ordered her cap and gown.

Gillis received her master’s of education in curriculum and instruction and is currently a kindergarten teacher for the Madera Unified School District. She said balancing virtual teaching and online learning has been challenging, “but Fresno State did a good job treating us as humans.”

“The professors were super supportive and gave us the support we needed,” she said. “They were there for us, and I had a good experience.”

Gillis’ closest friend, Tim Meja, who is also a teacher at Madera Unified, graduated with her Friday. He said having the support of each other is what got them through some of their toughest days.

“For Sam and I, we had moments of, ‘How are we going to get to the end of the week?’ And we figured out how to get by day by day with college and teaching online,” he said. “It’s a heartwarming feeling we get to walk in the stadium and beyond that have that moment we never thought we were going to have.”

Meja, who teaches high school U.S history and AP psychology, received his master’s of education in leadership and administration. He said he hopes to work as an administrator for Madera Unified eventually.

Another reason that makes this year’s graduation different is having CSU Chancellor Joseph I. Castro return to Bulldog Stadium for ceremonies. He served as Fresno State’s president from 2013 to 2020 and said being back is “very meaningful.”

“These are students that I had the opportunity to serve, and I feel I have some unfinished business,” Castro told the Ed Lab in an interview Thursday. “That’s one of the main reasons I want to come back, and I’ll have the opportunity to confer their degrees. That will be the role that I play at each of the six ceremonies, and I’m excited to be able to do that.”

Last year’s graduates are also able to attend in-person graduations. Anaisbel Armas, who graduated last fall with a bachelor’s in business entrepreneurship, attended the virtual graduation on Friday.

Not being able to have a graduation ceremony was “horrible,” Armas said, especially because graduation was a significant accomplishment for her and her family. She was the first in her family to graduate from college, the Reedley native said.

“I’m not going to lie, it was so depressing with everything going on,” Armas said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I’m not going to walk. I bought a cap and gown and still have them.’ It was sad knowing I wasn’t going to wear it.”

Armas said she chose to participate in the virtual ceremony so everybody in her family could attend. Fresno State has to limit the number of people who are attending ceremonies Friday through Sunday (six total) in Bulldog Stadium to comply with COVID-19 guidelines.

Another Valley native, Lizbeth Cortez Villa, is also graduating this year with a bachelor’s in liberal studies and hopes to get her credentials next and be an elementary teacher in dual immersion programs.

“I was really happy because I guess I kind of just resigned to the fact that we weren’t going to have a graduation,” Cortez Villa said. “I haven’t put much thought on graduation. It was just getting my degree, and when they (Fresno State) sent the email saying in-person (graduations), it didn’t hit me until then how bad I wanted to graduate (in-person).”

Finishing her last semester of college online was difficult, and Cortez Villa said she struggled with time management, and missing out on in-person interaction on campus was the hardest part. But, she said, she pulled through and even was an Undergraduate Dean’s Medalist recipient.

“Sometimes it doesn’t hit me; out of a thousand students, they chose me,” she said. “I think it’s really surreal sometimes.”

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.

This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 12:13 PM.