The virtual commencement ceremony still upheld the schools nearly 50 year tradition of commencement exercises from the keynote address, student speeches, and even the reading of each graduate\u2019s name and degree. UConn mailed each student their academic regalia robe and hat so that they could wear them during the ceremony if they wished and in celebratory photos.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not at all how I envisioned my graduation day from UConn dental,\u201d shared Erica Quinones, from Trumbull, Conn. as the dental school\u2019s student commencement speaker heading to New York Medical College for her general practice residency.\u00a0 \u201cWe find ourselves under very new circumstances, in the most challenging of times. Just because today is not what you pictured, does not mean you will not remember it for the rest of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n Quinones added: \u201cClass of 2020 will forever be the class that persevered despite this pandemic. \u201cTo the resilient class of 2020, I say congratulations! We did it!\u201d<\/p>\n Medical student commencement speaker, Kathryn Topalis of Simsbury, shared: \u201cI think we can no longer deny that the current pandemic has fundamentally changed medicine, and how we think about our careers and ourselves as physicians will forever be altered. But now we face an intern year that will undoubtedly look far different that any we could have imagined. We will be forced to place our own health at risk for the benefit of others.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Commencement-Erica-2020-dental-speaker-300x201.png\")