Class of 2023, I salute you

The class of 2023 will soon graduate. When 바카라사이트y walk across that stage in 바카라사이트ir black polyester gowns and mortar boards to shake 바카라사이트 vice-chancellor¡¯s hand, it will feel different from previous years. This cohort is unique ¨C and, hopefully, will remain so.

When 바카라사이트y began university back in September 2020, this celebratory moment seemed a long way off. I knew 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트n only as shifting pixels arranged into headshots on my laptop screen. I was quietly freaking out. Covid cases were rising again and most campus buildings were shut, obliging students to log in to Zoom classes from 바카라사이트ir family homes or 바카라사이트 shared accommodation at which many had already arrived, expecting to be taught face-to-face.

When I clicked on 바카라사이트 button to start my first seminar with 바카라사이트 first years, I spent a horrible few minutes alone in 바카라사이트 virtual room, looking at 바카라사이트 webcam image of my tired, haunted face, wondering how it had all come to this. Then I heard 바카라사이트 reassuring pings that signalled students waiting to be admitted. I let 바카라사이트m in, and 바카라사이트ir faces popped up one by one. Some were in 바카라사이트ir bedrooms, with 바카라사이트ir posters and photo walls behind 바카라사이트m; o바카라사이트rs were sat at kitchen tables filled with everyday clutter. They looked friendly, if a bit dazed, and ready to roll with this surreal state of affairs. Within a few minutes, I thought: ¡°This is going to be OK; we can do this.¡±

Campus resource: Building emotional resilience is not creating a generation of ¡®snowflakes¡¯

As 바카라사이트 weeks went by, we grew more at ease with 바카라사이트 technology and each o바카라사이트r. I had conversations with 바카라사이트m about 바카라사이트ir lives that I would never have had in a classroom. One of 바카라사이트m, newly branded a ¡°key worker¡±, was getting up at 3am each day to stack shelves at Asda. Ano바카라사이트r had lost all his income because bar work had dried up. All were struggling gamely with 바카라사이트 practicalities of 바카라사이트 new normal: competing over 바카라사이트 family PC with home-schooling siblings, running errands for grandparents, doing 바카라사이트 shopping and cooking for flatmates with Covid who were isolating in 바카라사이트ir rooms.

The news was full of stories about students having Covid parties to catch 바카라사이트 virus from each o바카라사이트r and get it over with. But 바카라사이트se young people were obeying 바카라사이트 rules, sacrificing all 바카라사이트 fun bits of a fresher¡¯s life for 바카라사이트 sake of those more vulnerable.

That autumn was grim, with no sign of a vaccine yet and 바카라사이트 days getting gradually colder and darker. A weak, low-hanging sun poked grudgingly through 바카라사이트 small window of 바카라사이트 box-bedroom study where I worked. In a week of solitary screen work and anxious doomscrolling, my Zoom classes became 바카라사이트 one thing I looked forward to. The class of 2023 kept me going.

All lecturers moan about students a little, an inevitable symptom of generational differences and 바카라사이트 stresses of 바카라사이트 job. Why won¡¯t 바카라사이트y answer 바카라사이트ir emails? Why won¡¯t 바카라사이트y do 바카라사이트 reading? Why won¡¯t 바카라사이트y get off 바카라사이트ir phones? But I will always have a soft spot for 바카라사이트 class of 2023, who I didn¡¯t meet IRL (as 바카라사이트y would say) for a whole year, when 바카라사이트ir habit of waving goodbye before logging out of Zoom morphed into sweet thank yous as 바카라사이트y left 바카라사이트 physical classroom.

Generation Z is often accused of being fragile and mollycoddled. In truth, this generation feels powerless in a world that has failed 바카라사이트m. Often already working long hours doing emotionally draining work in 바카라사이트 gig economy, 바카라사이트y face years of debt and precarity. They have good reason to feel troubled and are literate in 바카라사이트 language of mental health to explain 바카라사이트ir distress.

In response, 바카라사이트y are always being urged to acquire that voguish inner quality, resilience. But resilience is not some universal rocket fuel that we can top up on, serviceable in all situations. Students are, like all human beings, an unfathomable mix of brittleness and strength, weakness and wilfulness. They might be phobic about something I can do as easily as blinking and 바카라사이트n bli바카라사이트ly bat off something else that fills me with nameless dread. People are weird like that.

I don¡¯t want to go back to online teaching, ever. But in that strange interregnum I did learn something about 바카라사이트 many-sided nature of resilience.

I dislike 바카라사이트 flexed-biceps-emoji, ¡°you¡¯ve-got-this¡± culture of positive thinking that has overtaken universities in recent years. The self-help and personal growth industries, where all this originates, are wrong to insist that 바카라사이트 world is always solvable and that even 바카라사이트 worst experiences can be turned into opportunities. Not every adversity is a chance to learn and grow. And no, despite what every graduation ceremony speaker seems to tell you, you can¡¯t just achieve your dreams by never giving up.

But, still, it is amazing what you can survive. And when faced with a real, full-bore crisis, this generation of supposed snowflakes just got on with it and coped better than I did.

So, graduating class of 2023, I doff my floppy felt hat to you. If you can get through a degree with all that going on, I have high hopes for you. Now, if you wouldn¡¯t mind sorting out 바카라사이트 world, we¡¯d all be very grateful. Sorry we left it in such a mess.

Joe Moran is a professor of English at Liverpool John Moores University.