19 June 2003

I graduated from college exactly a week ago. It was as I expected it to be. Long, boring and humid.

It began with my last walk through campus. A fine 25 minute walk in shoes that look great, but weren't meant to be walked on. My feet were a bloodly mess by the time I reached my final destination. Ah, what women have to do for fashion. Although, my mom had a point when she said it didn't really matter what shoes I wore since no one really saw my outfit, just my robe but....

That's not technically true, because I walked down without my robe on, and I could not have possibly worn any other shoe or else it wouldn't have matched. *smiles*. I knew my feet would get messed up, but I was willing to give it ago.

Once I got there the air was buzzing with excited graduates. I was *really* sweaty and hot from the walk, but other than that I was in a pretty good mood. I got a couple of pix with the boyfriend and some friends in graduation gear and after some walking around and chatting I went inside to line up. As we all walked into the stadium you sort of felt like a celebrity. Our faces were being projected to the huge screen, parents, friends and other family members cheered at the passing graduates and just about everyone was on a cellphone trying to locate people in the crowd.

I heard we had close to six thousand graduates and around thirty-five thousand guests. That's pretty amazing. Even with all those people I was actually able to find my parents/grandparents which was fun. I know it doesn't really matter if you see them or not, but it's more fun being able to point them out.

The ceremony itself wasn't too bad. The speaker, Christopher Reeve was short and sweet. Not my first pick for comencement, but oh well. The worst was the naming and cloaking of the PHds. I know they deserve to be called by name, they have definitly earned that recognition, but the whole crowd was restless as it began. I'm not sure how many people got them, but it took forever.

By the end I didn't honestly feel that different. Sadly, I was meeting my parents at a restaurant, so I didn't even get to see them right after the ceremony. The whole thing was such a huge production it was practically impossible to try to meet up with friends or family, although a lot of other students had previously set a place to meet up with parents. Having no one to meet I began my lonely walk to my campus place alone. It felt weird with everyone celebrating and taking pictures all around me.

I felt kind of like a pathetic, unwanted graduate. Oh well. It had grown quite humid and hot by that time and once I reached my house I was a gross sweaty mess. I was supposed to wait for Jeff to get back and then drive to the restaurant, and although I only had like a half hour til the reservation (I knew it would take at least 25 minutes to get there) I decided to take a rush shower.

I mean, I *needed* it after that walk! Thankfully, Jeff didn't get back until I was completely ready. AND, although I got to the restaurant about 30 minutes late, my family hadn't gotten there much earlier because of the heavy traffic so all was well.

So that was graduation. Not too exciting, huh? What made for a better evening? The night out with my girls! But I'll have to tell that another time, because I have to go.

I collected some selections from fellow diarylanders about graduation which I liked, and you can read below. Enjoy :)

We were joking around, laughing, complaining about our commencement speaker's long and pointless speech, laughing at how one student tripped down the stairs during the distribution of the diplomas, and happily announcing, "We're done! We're out of this hellhole." And suddenly, the surrealness of the moment disappeared and I began to see the event for what it really was. It's all over. We've graduated. "Guys," I whispered, quieting the cheerful mood. "This is it. Life as we know it is done."-- Lisse

Congratulations Danielle! I had so many mixed emotions when I graduated

and bottled all together I came up with pissed off--I think it was a combo of leaving everyone and I was sad about the guy I was dating--anyway, I know your graduation will be much more enjoyable!!! �My Sister (okay, this isn't from D-land, but I liked it anyway :)

There are lots of flowers given, lots of cards, lots of crying. You get lots of hugs, and you get a lot of cameras shoved in your face, either in a "take a picture of us, please?" way, or a "can I take a picture with you?" way. Either way is fine.-- TinyPortrait

Do we ever figure things out? Am I just a normal 22 year old and all people my age go through this, but one day it all makes sense? Will it ever make sense? Will I ever figure out who I am? Who I want to be? Will I ever know why I'm here? Maybe I'm just young and the realization that college graduation isn't like high school graduation is hitting me too hard. I actually have to go out into the 'real world' and face whatever the hell that may be. Will I be happy in my job? Will I ever find someone and get married and raise a family? Where will I (or we) live? But mainly,...will I be happy? Will the world make sense? Will I still be searching to find out who I am and what I truly believe? Will I know what I want from this life? Do we ever figure this stuff out? Maybe. Maybe not.

Maybe I just need to live the way I've been living the past few years: I live to accomplish the goals that I've set for myself. Maybe that's how everyone lives. Whether it be raising kids or making ends meet, perhaps that's what I will live for for the rest of my life. Maybe we only think so philosophically like this while we're young, before we have all the other responsibilities (like kids and work) to take our minds off of it and give us something to survive through each day for.--RealThoughts

At graduation it didn't seem like I was graduating. My friend Josh and I made fun of the really bad speakers then we were push along the stage like cows going to the slaughter. Other people cried but I didn't. I just couldn't I was glad for the year to end and to be done with. College was fun and I did meet wonderful people. But it wasn't great. Oh Well...Let's see how life goes.-- Melliego

OH! THE PLACES YOU�LL GO!--Graduation Poem

I made it up the stairs without tripping, got my diploma, and survived the night. Man, do I dislike that type of fancy ceremony stuff. After that we went to McDonald's for milkshakes. Ha ha. I joked that we should write a letter to McDonald's and tell them that I went there after graduation, and maybe they'd use us in a commercial.--Psianin

Another surprising moment was the start of the ceremony where they performed a little multimedia presentation about the university to the DARUDE - SANDSTORM track. I couldn�t help laughing.-- ModernLove