EMBRACING A DIGITAL WORLD WRITTEN BY VICTORIA M. EVENS, CIVIC FELLOW Graduating college in the middle of a pandemic is terrifying: plans change, opportunities are lost, employers hesitate to hire. Like many 2020 graduates, I moved out of my college apartment with a day's notice. I packed up my textbooks and my cat and moved home. I spent the last few months of my college experience troubleshooting video calls, fighting migraines, and recording a virtual senior recital from my parents' basement. As my cohort of liberal arts students parted ways digitally, we were tossed into an unpredictable and uncertain job market. We searched for remote work and part-time essential jobs as our dream interviews were postponed and internships were canceled. Plans changed, and so we adapted. 2020 will always be a year that we remember for the challenges we have all faced during this pandemic. From financial struggles to loss of loved ones to physical and mental health concerns, many of us have been impacted greatly by the pandemic. As the virus persists, we have become an everexpanding digital world. Most of us found a new routine in zoom meetings, working and schooling from home, and ordering groceries online. Email signatures replace handshakes, we take our coffee breaks in the living room, and we search for ways to stay engaged and connected with each other despite the distance.
Victoria M. Evens, Civic Fellow
Victoria M. Evens hails from Cold Spring, Minnesota. A distinguished graduate of the University of MN, Morris, Evens holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and gender/women/sexuality studies. She was named the 2020 recipient of the Mimi Frenier Award, recognizing high academic achievement and political, social, and civic activism. During her studies, Evens served the UMM Concert Choir as alto section leader and vice president. Evens currently resides in central Minnesota as a research intern for the Boulanger Initiative and Civic Fellow for the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement. She strives to pursue a career in music as a professor and writer.
I am one of the lucky ones. I found an opportunity with the McCarthy Center where I can work safely at home while interacting with students, colleagues, and guests virtually. We found ways to connect with students and community members through webinars, digital Q&As, and social media. We embraced a digital world to reach students where they are at, maintaining our goal to promote civic engagement during a global pandemic. It is my pleasure to have been a part of this demanding, yet fulfilling semester with the McCarthy Center team.
www.csbsju.edu/mccarthy-center
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