With the prolonged COVID-19 outbreak, the 52nd General Student Council, Emotion, had announced on Sept. 4 that the annual graduation photo schedules will be delayed. However, amid the recent easing of social distancing rules, Emotion announced on Oct. 18 that the shooting process for the album would be resumed, and students will be able to take photographs starting Nov. 9.
This decision was based on a survey conducted by Emotion from Oct. 3 to 8, to take opinions from students regarding the graduation photo shoots.
According to Emotion, among the 366 students participated, 89.9 percent replied that they are willing to shoot for the album in 2020, and 10.1 percent disagreed with the idea. The reason that was mostly presented from the opponents was the risk of infection during the shoot. They pointed out that although outdoor shootings are less risky than taking pictures indoors, it is still unsafe since taking off the masks is mandatory during shooting.
Ahn Saet-byul, a senior majoring in Computer Science and Engineering, said that she is looking forward to shooting for the album, but has concerns on the infection.
“In most cases, students tend to take pictures with their friends, rather than taking them alone,” Ahn said. “Also, restricting the visitor exits would be harder during the shooting process because there will be numerous students outdoors.”
Ahn suggested that the school allow personal profile pictures to be accepted in the yearbook according to a specific layout. She asserted that the yearbook production company could work with photoshop techniques to make the submitted pictures look uniform.
Park Ji-hye, a senior majoring in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, had a different thought on the issue. Park emphasized that it was a great idea to resume the shooting schedules, although she commented that it would have been better to take pictures in spring when the flowers bloom on campus. She also noted that there would be no infection problems if the quarantine rules are well followed.
“Due to the COVID-19 crisis, I took several snapshots with my friends, considering the fact that meeting altogether would be more difficult than ever. It would be an efficient way of leaving precious memories.”
Regarding student concerns, CR Studio, DODREAM Multimedia, and The Classic Photo Studio, candidates of the graduation album producing company, stated that shooting reservation systems would be prepared in order to disperse students and lower the risk of infection.
Students who are currently residing abroad or away from Seoul due to online classes are requesting the school for alternative measures.
Li Rui-yi, a senior majoring in Division of Communication & Media, shared her thoughts regarding the yearbook schedules. Li is currently staying in China and is not planning to return to Korea anytime soon. Therefore she showed her concerns on not being able to take pictures on campus with her friends in Korea. Li noted that international students staying overseas also have to deal with other administrative processes of graduation preparation on their own, such as receiving diplomas on time.
“The graduation uniform renting service is only around for a very limited period of time during the graduation season,” Li said. “I would like to suggest that the school provide us the renting service any time of the year so that when we finally return to Korea, we can easily rent our uniforms for the pictures based on our personal schedule.”
Since the yearbook is a culmination of college life, many students are looking forward to the album production. Students are also expecting the school to come up with alternatives for the students unavailable to join the shooting, to help them still take a part in the meaningful activity.