An Unusual Ending 2020 Grads Discuss COVID-19 Impact on Their Last Semester
As an outdoor leadership major, Madison Bennett (’20) was in a program which relied heavily on physical experiences. Switching to online during the COVID-19 crisis made for a very different last semester at NGU, but she was thankful for the adaptability of her professors.
“My professors did an excellent job being creative with assignments and lessons, allowing the students to interact with each other and have hands-on learning the best way possible,” she shares. “[They] were very good at communicating with the students daily and checking up to see how [we] were doing beyond academics.”
Bennett readily acknowledges the disappointments she faced during her last semester at NGU, but she says she has seen “much good come out of the season we are in.”
She plans to attend New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in the fall to pursue her master’s in theological studies.
For Becca Garris (’20), COVID-19 meant leaving not only campus but also her housemates in “Chinq 12.”
“My housemates and I texted as much as we could to keep up with one another,” she shares. “We were able to encourage each other over text and make sure that we were all doing okay and staying strong with the intense workload that came with online school.”
Garris considers the friendships she’s made with her housemates one of the best parts of her time at NGU.
“I have experienced growth that has made me more like Christ and made friends I will cherish forever, even if our paths do not cross much in the future,” she says.
For Garris, her future includes taking two more classes at NGU in the fall and completing all the necessary steps to apply to medical school in Spring 2021, where she hopes to prepare to become a physician.
At the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester, Student Body Vice President Adam Kelly (’20) felt beyond excited to start his final semester at NGU. Due to COVID-19, however, he had to go back home to finish classes online.
When he returned to campus to move his things out, Kelly took the opportunity to do a graduation photoshoot in Younts Stadium, with a special appearance by NGU President Dr. Gene C. Fant, Jr., himself.
“[I’m] blessed for all NGU has given and thankful for a president who continues to create and innovate,” Kelly shares.
Now that he’s completed his digital media degree, Kelly is working with the City of Charleston Recreation Department, assisting in media and marketing. The distance won’t keep him away from NGU.
“We’ve finished, and I cannot wait to participate in the December commencement,” he says.
NGU.EDU | 13
MADISON BENNETT
ADAM KELLY
BECCA GARRIS
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