Graduation

Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences celebrated its 2021 Summer Graduation Ceremony on Friday - hopeful that it will be the last one constricted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Graduates were praised by management and lecturers alike for their tenacity and perseverance in obtaining their degrees despite the difficult circumstances brought about by the pandemic.

Being at a crossroad in life or on a path that you don't know where it leads to can be daunting. For some, if not most, it can be scary, confusing and even frustrating, especially when asked the question, “Do you know what you're going to do after you graduate?"

Wittenborg held its first entirely online graduation ceremony on Friday. Due to COVID-19 regulations, the 2021 Winter Graduation Ceremony could not proceed as usual, but the university of applied sciences still made an effort to keep traditional elements, like the commencement address, a student speaker and lecturers spotlighting each individual graduate.

On Friday Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences will hold the first fully online graduation ceremony in its entire history. We caught up with the institution's events manager, Nadia Zaman, who has organised four graduation ceremonies at Wittenborg, about the challenges of putting together this one.

Wittenborg's 2020 Summer Graduation Ceremony on Friday was one for the history books – part virtual and part socially distant, but no less celebratory in nature. It was held at Wittenborg's main campus in Apeldoorn and was marked by inspiring stories of perseverance and graduates overcoming many difficulties, including one Chinese student who had to complete her final thesis in locked-down Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected.

For the first time in its history Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences will live-stream its Summer Graduation Ceremony on Friday, 10 July, in addition to hosting a small, intimate gathering of graduates and essential staff at its main campus in Apeldoorn. It will also be the first time that a group of students will graduate virtually – mainly those who either find themselves outside the Netherlands or cannot attend the ceremony in person for other reasons.

As Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences' latest graduates stepped off the stage and into the labour market on Friday, degrees conferred, they were given a final moral boost in terms of their employability by Rijn Platteel, regional chair of VNO-NCW, the largest employer organisation in the Netherlands.

There was a wonderful feeling of hope and elation in the air when 8 students from Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences graduated along with about 3,000 others from the University of Brighton, UK, last week. Brighton is Wittenborg's main education partner, offering joint bachelor's and master's degree programmes to Wittenborg students.