College students who had just found out they wouldn't be having an in-person graduation ceremony this year ended up celebrating 30,000 feet in the air, instead.

The students from Briercrest College and Seminary in Caronport, Sask. were returning from Quebec City where they had been competing in the CCAA Volleyball Nationals. 

Liane Wiebe’s daughter Elicia was one of the team members. Although they didn’t play as well as they would have liked, that didn’t matter once they got some news after the tournament.

"When they went back to their hotel in the evening they were told that school was going to be done online from now on, and they were requested to go home as soon as possible," Liane says.

She says Elicia called that night and was in shock and overwhelmed, and unsure what the future looked like. Elicia is in her final year of a Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies with a Minor in Kinesiology.

"They still had another 24 hours to travel home and to try and process the whole thing, but we just kind of thought, ‘okay, she’s going to come home early.’ We didn’t realize how much of everything would be cancelled," Liane says.

However, during that WestJet flight home, they had a pleasant surprise.

"The team Chaplain told the flight attendant that our four, fifth-year girls would not be having a grad ceremony. They had just found out and were a little bummed, and so the flight attendant – I believe his name was Jonathan – took down some notes and he wrote out diplomas on meal covers."

After that, she says he got on the microphone and conducted a whole ceremony on the plane.

"I hadn’t heard about it until I saw it on Instagram so it was really cool . . . I thought it was really neat of them to do that for the girls, and that everyone on the plane was happy for them too."

They were also given a bag full of pleasant treats like chocolate, chips, and juice from the plane.

"She was very humbled that someone would take notice of them and pay attention to them."

Liane adds it is nice to see her daughter’s school journey have some highlights as it nears its end.