Florida State University held an in-person ceremony for 2020 graduates over the weekend, giving them a chance to celebrate like every other class —on campus with their classmates.
Thara Vasquez, 22, was among 2,100 graduates who walked across the stage one year after completing their degree program. Vasquez received a bachelor’s degree in finance and real estate and now has a job as a mortgage lending officer in Miami.
She says coming back to campus one year after leaving college amid a pandemic felt "surreal."
“I feel like it didn’t hit me until I was actually sitting there in the seat and watching the ceremony," Vasquez said. "It was hard to close that chapter for sure.”
Last year, she and her family watched the university’s virtual graduation event together at home, Vasquez said. This year, they got a traditional on-campus ceremony.
"It solidified everything for me, and it kind of gave me a visualization of what I had actually done over the last four years."
