MINNEAPOLIS — On a beautiful Sunday afternoon there was every reason to be outside, but only one reason to be inside Mariucci Arena on the U of M campus.
More than 1,100 students from the College of Liberal Arts received their college diplomas in a ceremony that was even more meaningful for this class of graduates.
"I feel like COVID took a lot of things away from me,” U of M graduate Kai Wilson said.
Wilson says many of her classmates never experienced a high school graduation due to the COVID pandemic.
“I have a lot of friends who didn’t even have a ceremony, or they did some sort of parade or something like that,” Wilson says.
She was lucky enough to have a high school graduation, but she says the ceremony was held outside.
"It was also on the hottest day of June,” Wilson laughs.
“A lot of people were wearing flip flops, no one was in high heels, people were wearing shorts and t-shirts under their cap and gown."
And the moment didn't feel the way she thought it would.
"We hadn't seen each other too during the school year with social distancing and hybrid learning and everything, so everything just felt so disconnected and disjointed."
That's why this moment means so much more.
"I can't believe it’s over,” U of M graduate Lauren Keefe says.
To finally have an unaltered celebration that is just for them.
"Everything with the pandemic, we've all been through so much and we all just persevered and we're all just resilient. It's just amazing we're all done and I'm very proud of all of us,” Keefe says.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist: