Graduates鈥 video shares some good news
May 25, 2020
Share
Many of us will agree, this is the time of year when the beauty of the Queen鈥檚 Campus is at its peak. Thousands of students and families would normally be able to enjoy the sights and sounds of the university as they attend the convocation ceremonies. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these in-person events have been postponed. But that didn鈥檛 stop three friends from finding a creative way to cap off their time at Queen鈥檚.
The pandemic restrictions meant the university needed to rethink the traditional way it marks the end of the university experience. In mid-March, the Office of the University Registrar announced it is looking at Fall 2020 as a possible timeframe for convocation ceremonies to occur, in the interest of safety for faculty, students and families.
鈥淪ince convocation was rescheduled, my housemates Taylor (De Sousa), Stacy (Pinto), and I decided to make our own celebration to commemorate our time at Queen's and still 鈥榞raduate鈥 together鈥 says Aim茅e Carter, a graduating Global Development Studies student.
The trio gathered items that reminded them of Queen鈥檚 and got creative.
鈥淥ur 鈥榙iplomas鈥 were Golden Words newspapers and we made our caps out of pizza boxes鈥 Carter says.
But it was the graduation video the women made and submitted to actor John Krasinski鈥檚 You Tube series Some Good News that created the most memorable touch to their endeavor.
鈥淚鈥檓 a huge fan of John Krasinski and we all love watching his episodes of Some Good News each week,鈥 says Taylor De Sousa, a graduating Psychology student. 鈥淚 noticed Krasinski posted on the Some Good News Facebook page asking to see how we were all celebrating our graduation. There were so many comments from other grads like us, so I joined in and submitted our video.鈥
Krasinski created the eight-week series as a way to celebrate the triumphs, joys and innovations of regular people. It grew to include celebrity drop-ins, fundraising endeavors and cool stunts.
鈥淗onestly, I was so shocked and excited when I saw that we were in Some Good News! We had joked about getting featured, but I didn't think it would actually happen鈥 says Carter.
The friends describe the video as 鈥渧ery uplifting鈥 and say being featured made graduation feel a little more real. The icing on the cake perhaps, was the star power the post received.
鈥淚t was amazing to see people like Oprah, Steven Spielberg, and Malala Yousafzai congratulate everyone in the video and I am so happy to have been a part of it, even if it was just in a little way,鈥 says Carter.
The graduating students now plan to further their education, with De Sousa returning to Queen鈥檚 in the fall to begin her master's studies, and Carter hoping to pursue a master's abroad.
So far, the 30-minute video, which was posted May 3 has been viewed over 3.4 million times. The Queen鈥檚 graduates are featured at the 22:14 mark.
鈥淥verall the reception has been pretty cool, people keep noticing the Queens flag in the background and sharing the video. It has definitely been a fun and surprising conclusion鈥痶o our undergrad,鈥 says Carter.
Queen鈥檚 University remains committed to ensuring students have the opportunity to celebrate graduation, just as previous classes of Queen鈥檚 graduates have-with friends and family at Convocation. Until that time, Queen鈥檚 is on schedule to confer degrees over the coming days and weeks.