Sunday, January 4, 2015

The Friends and Family Graduation Plan

One of my favorite moments during a graduation is toward the end of the ceremony. It's after the speakers have spoken, the graduates have shaken the hands of dignitaries and faculty, and after tassels have been moved from the right to the left signifying graduate status. The President of the College asks the graduates to stand, turn and face their audience of friends and family and applaud those people who have made it possible for them to be where they are.

Anyone who has gone back to school -- especially those who have gone back after a long time away -- knows that that moment gives you goose bumps. Up to then, the spotlight has been on the graduate. That's the point of the ceremony, really. The community celebration of academic achievement is an ancient tradition that purposely ties the current crop of graduates to a long line of other graduates through the robes and regalia, the solemn march to "Pomp and Circumstance", and even the particular order of speakers and dignitaries. It's as if each school has a secret ritual sequence that cannot be disturbed or altered without invalidating the post-secondary credential.

Up to that point, the focus has been on the front of the auditorium where the graduates and dignitaries sit. Now, at the behest of the President of the College, attention shifts to the balconies, the seats along the aisles and even those standing in the back waiting to present the new graduates with roses, helium balloon bouquets and graduation baskets of goodies. Very few students complete a certificate, diploma or degree without help and support from those who stand behind them.

These are the people who have supported the students day in and day out through semesters of classroom work, in long hours of study, though moments of self-doubt, and now, in this final celebration of academic success. These are the people who offered to babysit, who drove the student to class when the car didn't start, who loaned them a few dollars to cover the cost of books and supplies for the semester. These are the people who pushed, pulled and persuaded grads to see the work through to this completion.

These are the people who believed, with the grads, in a better life beyond the status quo. This shared belief is what George Eliot described in the quote, "It is never too late to be what you ought to be." When the President asks grads to applaud fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, friends, family and neighbors, graduates often cheer, wave their caps and strain to see over the shoulders of classmates to catch a glimpse of the people who have been most important to them. Giving friends and family credit at this moment seems both right and just, and long overdue.

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