I speak for the majority when I say we were deeply saddened to hear the graduation would be virtual this year. We as seniors worked extremely hard this year with hopes to be able to attend an In-person graduation. A list of ideas was created and sent to the commencement commitee. This list had possible graduation ideas for this graduation season including limited family in attendance, extensions on separate graduation dates, pushing the graduation date back a couple weeks, holding an outdoor graduation, etc. 

We as students of the University of the Pacific really are pushing for this because of all of our hard work and dedication. Pushing commencement back too far will not have the desired turnout planned given that many of us will be entering the workforce and/or going into graduate programs where there may be an increase in workload. Most restaurants in the San Joaquin county are open to full capacity including indoor and outdoor dining although we are still in the purple tier. If restaurants can be open to full capacity then we should be able to enjoy one day we all worked very hard to experience in the fullest capacity possible.

Given the circumstances as well with time, April 15th vaccinations are open for citizens in our age group to receive. That is a factor that can also come into play when negotiating commencement comes up. Signatures are welcomed and needed so that we as students can actually enjoy one of the biggest days of our life to the fullest extent.