EAST LANSING — Michigan State's senior class knew things wouldn't be normal anymore when they were told their classes were going online.

But they thought they'd be back for one last celebration of their four years: graduation.

Until they were told they wouldn't. Classes will remain online through the end of the semester. Graduation has been postponed until further notice for MSU's class of 2020. The families of MSU's roughly 8,500 graduating seniors won't get to celebrate that final step.

When senior Zaria Phillips found out her year would be cut short by almost two months "I was in disbelief," she said.

This is the new normal. Events, jobs and even major moments in lives are being put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, MSU's class of 2020 must grapple with the fact that they may never get that moment: taking photos with professors, friends and family; the final parties; the bar crawls with clubs and organizations; the goodbyes.

"It makes you appreciate everything," said MSU senior and Wixom native, Brandon Mostyn, who was supposed to be begin his first year as a student manager with the baseball program this spring. "I worked so hard to get to the moment of walking across the stage. It was a big deal for my parents."

Mostyn's parents started college but didn't finish.

"It wasn't just my hard work, but theirs too ... now, he said, "I don't know if I will be able to get that."

'Just want to make it worth it'

Rumana Uddin, a first-generation college student who is studying pre-law and humanities, said she was on the bus with her roommates when she found out.

Uddin said her mother never went past third grade, her father never completed fifth. Her parents were a huge reason she was so driven in school, she said. "My mom always said on the phone, 'Just get it done.'"

"I just want to make it worth it," Uddin said. "That's a big thing for first-generation students."

But that's not the whole of it. She's also missing out on proper goodbyes.

"To think I was with my roommates for so long..." she said. "I didn't get to experience that closure, or even a 'see you later.'"

Phillips' mother missed being able to walk at her own college graduation back in the late 1990s. Now, her parents won't get to experience their daughters' graduation for the time being.

"My mom was the last one to graduate from college in 1997. It was a big deal. It validates the nights up late, asking family for money for books. It really is a lot of closure missing for me."

A host of a show at MSU's student radio station, The Cultural Vibe, Phillips was just starting to look towards a professional career in radio.

Now, there will be no final show, no final party, bar crawl or meeting, no final sendoff for her and her fellow seniors in anything.

It feels like there's business left unfinished, Phillips said.

'I feel like I'm being evicted'

School ending nearly two months early was abrupt and hard to accept for many. Senior Julie Kurilko is saddened by all the things she'll miss out on.

"I didn't get to say bye to a lot of people that I've known," she said. "We have all the senior events, and we didn't get that."

Senior Matt Ring was still waiting to purchase his gap and gown. It's hard to accept that he won't need it for the time being, he said.

"(I feel) confused and powerless," Ring said. "I want to say goodbye to what made me who I am. Instead of being sent off into the world, I feel like I am being evicted."

Contact Joe Dandron at jdandron@lsj.com or (517) 377-1065. Follow him on Twitter @JosephDandronMI.