BOSTON — University of Massachusetts Amherst held it’s commencement ceremony online Friday, but a group of roommates decided to have a unique celebration on their own.
“Today, our parents coordinated and made a parade together,” said one girl. “They drove by a couple times with signs and balloons.”
The group of girls are unique. The twelve of them have been living under the same roof for two years.
“When we first moved in two years ago that’s when we all met and we just formed the best relationship with each other,” one of the girls said.
But they got even closer these last two months by quarantining together.
“We’ve been doing a lot of fun activities; we got roller skates and skate boards, we made a trivia game," they said. “We’ve grown closer. We’ve grown way closer and we appreciate it.”
When UMass decided to move it’s ceremony to online only, the group’s parents wanted to find a way to make it special.
“It’s just unfortunate that they didn’t get the real celebration but this celebration has been so much more emotional and heartfelt and it’s just amazing,” Beth Connolly, mother of one of the graduates.
Over a dozen cars drove by with signs, honking and cheering for the group.
“We cried, we laughed, we had an amazing time - it was just so nice for all of us to be together,” another one of the roommates said.
But that’s not all. The group of 12 plan to host their own graduation ceremony Friday night with just one another.
“We’re actually going to graduate each other,” they said. “We all have one person we’re reading a speech to later on. So we’re graduating each other which will be more special than anything else.”
Turning what could have been a disappointing day, into one they’ll remember forever.
“It’s a bond they won’t break, they won’t forget," Gail Sauter, another mother, said. “They’ll tell these stories for decades.”
Download the free Boston 25 News app for up-to-the-minute push alerts
>> Complete local and national coronavirus coverage here
RESOURCES:
- Massachusetts Coronavirus Information
- Boston Coronavirus Information
- Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Watch Boston 25 NOW
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
