Graduating seniors: We're leaving college in a 'time of uncertainty'

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- When Shelby Hamm graduated high school four years ago during the pandemic, she thought that would be the biggest challenge of her academic career.

“When the pandemic happened, and I was a junior in high school, it was really the first time that I had been looking towards the future, and now something from the outside that I had no control over was really impacting my life,” Hamm said.

But in the years since, the world has changed again.

Many students graduating from college this year — in the midst of economic uncertainty and massive changes to higher education — graduated from high school in 2021, as pandemic restrictions were lifting, but not over yet.

They spent the last two years of high school learning virtually, with canceled or socially distanced milestones and wearing masks.

Four years later, they’re graduating college with seismic concerns: A changing job market, a worsening economy and as diversity, equity and inclusion and the rights of the LGBTQ+ community have come under attack in Kentucky and across the nation.

The Herald-Leader interviewed six graduating Central Kentucky college seniors about what it’s like to be leaving college and entering adult life at this moment in time. Each student was asked the same series of questions, all centered around their college experience and what it’s like to be leaving college in 2025.

The Herald-Leader interviewed the following students:

•University of Kentucky, graduation May 9 and 10: Danielle Rosenthal and Riley Jordan.

•Kentucky State University, graduation May 10: Christian Webb and Erica McPheeters.

•Transylvania University, graduation May 24: Shelby Hamm and Trent Fry.

Here’s what they had to say.

Changes to diversity, equity and inclusion programs

Nationally, higher education has become a target in recent years, but especially under the Trump Administration. Diversity, equity and inclusion practices, or DEI, were essentially banned at Kentucky public higher education institutions in the most recent legislative session.

Hamm, who will graduate from Transylvania University with degrees in PP&E (philosophy, politics and economics) and Spanish, will next attend Brandeis School of Law with the goal of becoming an immigration attorney. As graduation nears, Hamm said she’s somewhat grateful that she’s attending law school and will not immediately enter the job market.

“I would be lying if I said that it was not extremely stressful,” Hamm said.

“Even wanting to pursue higher education and looking to universities that have the same values I do, considering things like are they going to be able to talk about different topics in class,” she said.

“Will any of the financial stuff affect my classmates? I think that it’s definitely very stressful to consider that all of us are going to have outside forces we have no control over, and we’re not going to be able to put 100% into the classroom.”

Danielle Rosenthal, who will graduate from the University of Kentucky, said entering the job market at this time and with many changing outside factors can be intimidating.

“It’s definitely scary and unexpected, and you don’t know what you’re really entering until you’re getting there,” he said.

“I was definitely not really scared of that coming into college. But I think it’s important to have a positive outlook on it, and just kind of do the best you can.”

For students at Kentucky State University, the commonwealth’s only public historically Black university, changes to DEI policies and practices also weigh heavily on their minds.

Erica McPheeters, a political science major from Kentucky State University, described her college experience as “diverse.” McPheeters is Miss Kentucky State University and a Kentucky Derby Festival Princess and has been involved with the Human Rights Campaign.

McPheeters will be getting a master’s degree in African politics at Howard University after her May 24 graduation.

She said graduating at a time when diversity, equity and inclusion are under attack in Kentucky raises concerns.

“I feel like everything that’s going on has really led us to a time of uncertainty, and we really are looking at some unexpected changes moving forward,” McPheeters said. “Even though we kind of have some ideas about how it’s going, I know that the legislature in Kentucky, and at the federal level, are all going to change our lives in different ways.”

McPheeters said these changes have pushed her toward greater advocacy for students.

“I know that requires students like myself and others to advocate and really just stand up for what we believe in and what matters to us,” McPheeters said.

“In the future, I really hope to see fighting against some of this legislation and making sure that we are advocating for our students who don’t get the same opportunities.”

Big choice: Staying or leaving Kentucky for opportunities?

Hamm said she initially saw herself leaving Kentucky after graduation, but her time at Transy changed her mind.

“I think that I have really realized that I love Kentucky, and I see a lot of good things in Kentucky, and a lot of people who I know can make a difference,” Hamm said.

“I didn’t want to be somebody that left the state and left my family. I think there’s things that I love about the state, and that can continue to grow and improve, and I want to be here to see it.”

Other students, like Trent Fry, plan to leave Kentucky. He will be attending the University of California San Diego for a Ph.D. in bio-inorganic chemistry. After growing up in Cynthiana, going to college in Lexington brought new experiences and fresh perspectives.

“I’ve changed a lot,” Fry said.

“I think who I was when I came here and who I am now is just completely different. This place really helped me develop and become a new person. It allowed me to understand that I had options in decisions that I could make that were what I wanted more so than what was expected and naturally planned out for you.”

Fry, who said he is gay, said he’s looking forward to life outside of Kentucky and living in a more accepting place.

“Lexington is like this beautiful, accepting little bubble,” he said. “The rest of Kentucky is not so much. I wanted to be able to go someplace where I can just walk around and feel more comfortable and be myself without any type of concern for how I’m being viewed by others.”

The “hateful rhetoric” from conservatives about the LGBTQ+ community has also concerned Fry. It’s making him consider options outside of Kentucky.

“It’s definitely a lot more aggressive than it used to be, I would say, because it’s just so much more in your face because the most powerful person in our country is pushing it,” he said.

Others, like University of Kentucky graduating senior Riley Jordan, said they see themselves staying in Kentucky long-term. Jordan will return to UK in the fall for dental school and hopes to work in Kentucky after graduation. She said she feels her generation is able to tackle cultural changes, even when it’s disheartening.

“It’s hard to see some of the things go away. ... Ultimately, I think it’s been hard to see some of the changes in policies in everything, but I think it has made us stronger in different ways, and our generation will push through it and help future generations,” Jordan said.

Lessons learned: Resilience, growth and ‘don’t blink’

Christian Webb, who is graduating from KSU, also plans to leave Kentucky and return to his hometown of St. Louis. Webb hopes to work as a genetic counselor, and there are only 26 master’s degree programs offering that course of study in the country.

He’ll work for a year before applying to master’s programs.

For Webb, the biggest lesson he learned in college was resilience. He transferred to KSU after getting his associate’s degree, which brought challenges and adjustments.

“It’s been setting me up for post-grad, just being resilient,” he said. “Take those punches and take the hard nights finding motivation. If not finding motivation, having self-discipline just to get my work done and progress, always strive for what I want in life and being ambitious.”

Rosenthal said she’s approaching life after graduation with a positive attitude as she looks to her next opportunities.

“Soak it up and don’t blink, because it goes by that fast,” Rosenthal said. “Take advantage of every opportunity.”

Fry said if he could tell his freshman-year self one thing, it would be to trust that things will work out in the end.

“Trust and wait,” Fry said.

“Just give it time. It’ll work out. Things that seem daunting and unsurpassable will pass, and you’ll come out on the other side as someone who’s grown and experienced things, and now has a wider perspective to carry on forward into the rest of your experiences in life.”

Like Fry, McPheeters echoed the sentiment that “everything happens for a reason.”

“The times that I did have missteps or any hardships or anything like that, I think that they have brought me to where I’m at now and they’ve made me a better person.”