They bore COVID’s brunt. Still, Winthrop 2021 class graduates with ‘relief’ and ‘pride’
.jpg "Winthrop interim president George Hynd (left) congratulates Scarlett Black (right) on receiving the President’s Award.")
Gabrielle Cobbina, like so many, admits she was nervous she might fall.
On Friday, Cobbina walked across the Winthrop Coliseum stage in a black cap and gown with a gold graduation cord and a multi-colored stole. The Fort Mill High School graduate, who grew up in Tega Cay, did like so many others before her have done on a Mother’s Day weekend: She walked across a stage in front of a bunch of iPhone cameras and clapping family; she shook an administrator’s hand or two; she smiled for pictures — all this while trying to make sense of a feeling of finality, one packed into an hour and a half ceremony.
So what was it like, finally receiving that diploma?
“It just summed up everything I was feeling that I wasn’t able to express,” Cobbina told The Herald in a phone interview. “It was like a relief, but I’m going to miss the whole community of Winthrop. I felt really accomplished. And I was really happy my family could be there because they’ve been my biggest support system.
“It felt really nice to walk across the stage, even though I was scared of falling.”
Cobbina, one of nearly 1,000 other Winthrop students to turn their tassels this weekend, graduated from the Rock Hill university on Friday. Cobbina stands out in a few ways: There’s the fact that before finding a “home” at Winthrop, she transferred from USC, where she spent one year before seeking out a smaller environment. There’s the fact that she needed only three years to earn her bachelor’s degree. There’s even the fact that she won the President’s Award, an honor earned by eight other students this year who finished with the class’s highest GPA. (Cobbina, a math major, finished with a 4.0.)
Not to mention, she was part of a class that also stands out: After all, students in the Class of 2021 across the country didn’t have the idyllic experience. They bore COVID’s brunt.
COVID-19 pandemic restricted face-to-face time with classmates and professors. There was virtual learning. Living at home instead of in dorms.
At Winthrop, specifically, there were late scheduling shifts and staff on furlough. Instead of a spring break, students had interspersed “wellness days” that extended weekends in the spring semester.
But despite all that was disrupted — all that went wrong and was out of her control — Cobbina, like her classmates, proved resilient. She found a home at Winthrop.
And she wasn’t alone.
La J’ai Reed, another President Award winner, told The Herald she is “indebted” to Winthrop.
“While at Winthrop, I truly learned the beauty of the highs and lows and the discovery of true passion,” she said in a Twitter direct message. “COVID certainly took away some of the glories of senior year, especially being the type of learner that I am. I favor one-on-one connections. However, being able to work through its peculiarity helped me actualize resilience. ...
“Being able to walk across the stage, knowing my experiences through these last four years, filled me with so much pride. Winthrop certainly holds a special place in my heart.”
Winthrop president award winners
Gabrielle Cobbina; Scarlett Black; La J’ai Reed; Allee Campbell; Mary Gump; Lauren Quesada; Katrina Sides; Kevin Caudill; Kennedy Mayers
This story was originally published May 10, 2021 at 12:51 PM.
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