Making the best of virtual graduation ceremonies

While virtual graduation ceremonies at the North-West University are a safe way to replace physical ceremonies during the Coronavirus pandemic, a psychologist said that students miss out on some of the joys and benefits of graduating in person.

However, students can still try to make the best of virtual ceremonies.

If a student’s virtual graduation ceremony can be celebrated with family and friends, where the students can be given the credit they deserve, where there is time for interaction and recognition, pictures and hugs and maybe have a special meal, it can still be a student’s rite of passage that makes an impact on their day and future.

In a letter sent to graduates the NWU vice-chancellor, Professor Dan Kgwadi, said: “We understand that no virtual ceremony can ever replace an actual graduation ceremony. We will consider allowing graduates to participate in person during the graduation ceremonies that may take place when the situation allows”. Kgwadi requested that the faculties explore options where graduates can be involved in more personalised virtual events. 

Annalie Janse van Vuuren, an alumnus of the NWU who has an honours degree in occupational and clinical psychology, said: “Graduation is an important moment in the life of a student. It’s a passage from one stage in life to another. It closes the door on one era and signifies the beginning of a new era”.

Graduation signifies a time of completion, a successful end to an academic career. It can also be seen as the psychological passage to adulthood. After graduation you start your career, find a place to live and sometimes find additional education to pursue.

Janse van Vuuren said that she believes it is important for students to have physical graduation ceremonies because in their minds they must make the transition from being a student to being on a career path or post graduate studies such as honours or masters. The physical event of graduation makes that transition easier. It marks a student’s final moment of being a student.

Janse van Vuuren said that certain brain chemicals are released during graduation. The chemicals are dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. 

According to Janse van Vuuren, this is what happens when these chemicals are released:

• Graduation shows that you worked for something, and it paid off. When achieving a goal and getting a reward for your work, your brain releases dopamine. 
• Serotonin, is released when students are called individually to receive their certificate, shake hands, and pose for their official picture. This reminds them that they have done good work. It is crucial to them feeling important. When you give yourself credit, your body releases serotonin which is also a happiness hormone, such as dopamine. 
• Oxytocin is a happiness chemical that is usually released when you build a special connection. It can also be released when you get closer to people like hugging for instance. After receiving their degree, students normally spend time with friends, family and colleagues celebrating the degree and there is usually hugging involved.
• Another chemical that is released when a student gets their degree is endorphin. The social interactions after a student has received their degree releases this feel-good hormone.

While many of these chemicals are released during and after physical graduation, some events that take place after a virtual graduation can also play a role in releasing chemicals such as endorphin and oxytocin, such as when friends and family gather, interact and hug one another.

On the topic of virtual graduation, Janse van Vuuren said that it tries to replace a very important event. In many cases today, students get virtual recognition and not the physical ceremony that will show them that they have achieved something. 

threestreamsmedia stated in an article about the graduations being virtual this year that there are various ways to celebrate your graduation. Students can host a family brunch or make a photo collage of all the memories they had during their studies. This will make the virtual graduation feel more like the actual graduation.