G R A D UAT I N G
IN A PANDEMIC The class of 2020 saw its final semester at AUP upended by the Covid-19 crisis. But equipped with the tools of a liberal arts education, graduates are progressing with their post-college lives despite the challenges of the pandemic.
The global liberal arts curriculum that AUP provides prepares students to step into a competitive international job market, bolstered by the career-critical soft skills developed through the Global Professional Skills Program. Though the Covid-19 pandemic has led to one of the most uncertain economic periods in recent history, resilient graduates are facing down challenges with persistence and determination. By the time the class of 2020 celebrated their achievements during an online ceremony this May, many of them had already returned to homes across the world, seeing in the process their post-graduation plans irreversibly changed by travel restrictions and national lockdowns. The graduating cohort demonstrated remarkable adaptability to these changes. “We were a little confused I think,” says Anis Anghel ’20, who majored in global communications. “But AUP did a great job transitioning to online learning. 46
AU P M AGAZ I NE
I don’t think I missed out on anything that I would have been able to do in the classroom.” Upon graduation, Anis returned to Bucharest, where she enrolled in a master’s in international public affairs, aiming to widen her academic experience with a renewed political focus. “It’s really society oriented,” she comments. “There’s a focus on Romania and its relationship to the EU and other member states.” Her university is teaching online this semester, but her positive experience at AUP prepared her to study remotely – she cites a need for flexibility as a valuable lesson of the pandemic.
