June convocation week has now wrapped up at UW, which took place between Tuesday and Saturday last week. Over 7,740 degrees, certificates and diplomas were awarded across 14 ceremonies.

For many, university graduation is filled with emotion and is a time to celebrate all of the hard work and sacrifices that were put towards their academic achievement – feelings that were shared with many UW grads during last week’s celebrations. 

For many undergraduate students walking the stage, this was their first in-person graduation ceremony, as many students from UW’s class of 2025 graduated high school during the COVID-19 pandemic and did not get a high school graduation ceremony.

The valedictorian for the math faculties morning ceremony, Keeley Isinghood, discussed how many of this year’s graduating class may feel unlucky that they had to experience the first years of their degree online and in isolation during the pandemic, a struggle that was mentioned in many of the other valedictorian speeches throughout the week.

The graduates’ experience during the pandemic was acknowledged during the Dean of Mathematics’s speech on Wednesday’s convocation as well. He revered them for their resilience during the last five years and discussed his special connection to their class in particular, as they joined Waterloo the same year he became Dean of Mathematics. As the Dean is now leaving his position, he discussed the significance of this convocation as his last at Waterloo. 

However, while there was much reflection on the difficulties in the last five years, there was a common sentiment of hope and excitement looking forward for the graduates, now alumni, as they move on to their next chapter. 

In the Chancellor’s speech during Wednesday morning’s ceremony, he shared the importance of curiosity in a person’s life and career and stated that, “Curiosity for me means always learning… curiosity also means taking risks.” He went on to give a reminder to the graduates as they leave to go out into the world that they should “act as a university ambassador wherever [they] go.”

During the ceremony, all graduates got their moment to walk across the stage when their name was called. Many students waved and cheered at the attendees of family and friends in the audience, with some students running, even jumping across the stage.

When talking with graduates after the ceremony, many expressed feelings of relief and anticipation for the future. Adam Ladha, who graduated from his Master of Arts in Global Governance, said that it was a big accomplishment for him as it is his first graduate degree and talked about what a special moment graduating was. When discussing the ceremony Ladha said, “It was very underwhelming in the moment because you really are just walking across the stage, but to finally get to celebrate all my accomplishments and all my hard work was amazing.”

Another graduate, Jansher Saeed, discussed his anticipation to start his masters degree in the fall. “In undergrad you get to dabble in all these little research areas, but with my master’s I really get to hone in, focus and be with a group of people who’re also doing the same type of research,” Saeed said.