A beaming Daren Stratman-Krusemark walked into Folsom Field on Thursday, wearing a cap and gown for the University of Colorado Boulder’s graduation ceremonies.

It was a feeling the 2024 college graduate missed four years ago, when school authorities shut down classrooms and cancelled or modified commencement exercises in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“I didn’t know anything different. I don’t have anything to compare to,” Stratman-Krusemark told The Denver Gazette.  

It’s unclear how many of the more than 9,000 students who graduated at Folsom Field didn’t get to attend their high school commencement ceremonies.

But the energy was palpable on the field, as their families and friends saw them receive their diplomas in one of life’s most pivotal moments.

On hand to greet and cheer for them were several CU Boulder leaders. Retiring CU Boulder Chancellor Phillip DiStefano spoke for his 15th and final commencement ceremony.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, a CU alum, was the honorary speaker.

“This is one of the most important days of my life to be here,” Wozniak said, his voice boomed through speakers. “You have no idea what this campus means to me.”

“It’s the most beautiful campus in the world,” he said. 

Four years ago, school officials decided to cancel graduations at high school and college levels, depriving the students society’s rite of passage into adulthood — or at least into the American workforce.  

This time around, their graduation was threatened by the pro-Palestinian protests that have erupted across the country, which in some universities resulted in clashes with the police.

In Colorado, the protests had been relatively muted, at least compared to the disruptions and violence at Columbia University in New York.   

In Denver, the activists threatened to disturb graduations by any of the three Auraria Campus universities.

No protest-related disturbances were sighted at CU Boulder’s graduation on Thursday — only the threat of rain and cold.

But the weather couldn’t wipe the smiles off many of the graduates’ faces.

Stratman-Krusemark said his family traveled from Maryland to come see him graduate.

“I’m out here today for them more so than I am for myself, you know. This is more what my mom paid for,” he said, adding with a chuckle, “I would have rather gotten a little more sleep.”

Looking back at his freshman year, the business school graduate and aspired marketer noted how he and his batch spent their time in the dorms and online classes. 

“In some ways, (online) helped a transition period between high school into college because I was a little bit worried about, you know, being able to do it,” Daren Stratman-Krusemark said.

Isabella Caccia, a pre-med graduate, shared what the COVID years were like.

“The method of learning was so different from my freshman year to my senior year,” she said. “I feel like I don’t remember anything from Covid.”

When she was finally able to go to class, Caccia said, “I enjoyed it a lot more.”

“I’m a very hands on kind of person,” she said.  

Caccia, who was excited to graduate college in front of her family, said her dad came all the way from Italy to watch her.

Cayla Kennedy, an aspiring theme park designer graduating at CU Boulder and who started as a film major at CU Denver in 2019, said college has been “a roller coaster ride.”

Living college through the pandemic was “really nuts,” Kennedy said. “The second semester of freshman year was just everything shut down. Everything kind of went backwards, sideways.”

But at the end, she added, “there were a lot of highs.”

“College can be tough, difficult and overwhelming, but it feels so worth it afterwards because I’m really proud of a lot of the things I’ve done and just how much I’ve seen myself and the people around me grow,” she said.