Graduation, interrupted: A senior reflects on college’s abrupt end

When I first read about the novel coronavirus in early January, it barely registered. As a graduating senior enjoying my final months at school in the small city of Ithaca, New York, I never imagined that a virus in China could affect me. But two months later, the pandemic brought my time at college to an abrupt end.

The crisis seemed to draw closer early this month when an outbreak erupted in Westchester County, New York, home to many fellow Cornell University students. Online classes were just a rumor among...