Desperate times call for desperate (but wholesome) measures, at least according to college students who were supposed to graduate this year. With the COVID-19 pandemic at large and the future uncertain, some of those students didn't want to wait to find out whether they would have a graduation ceremony at all, instead deciding to make their own in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
One Twitter user under the handle @WhimsyWool shared a video of a group of players sitting in chairs and wearing graduation caps and capes, while one of them was standing in front and "handing out diplomas." The game doesn't really have anything to mimic diplomas, so they had to content themselves with greeting each other, followed by emoting Joy in front of the applauding audience.
They are not the only ones who went with this type of graduation in face of the current uncertainty. A Facebook post shared to the Animal Crossing Memes group shows players accepting surgeonfish in place of diplomas, with a caption saying, "Since we won't be able to graduate in real life, we decided to graduate in Animal Crossing."
While Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been a long-awaited game, after almost seven years since its last mainline entry in the franchise, the current almost-worldwide quarantine has added to the hype, as many take to the game as a form of escapism. It's great to see players deal with social isolation in such a fun way.