Commencement: The Participant’s Perspective
(You’ve gotten my perspective of the Commencement experience–now see it through the graduate’s eyes. The following post is written by my very good friend Stephen Hollabaugh [see picture below], a recent graduate of the Vanderbilt Class of 2012.)
As I woke that morning, the suite was buzzing with excitement. Not often were all six of us simultaneously up this early, and not often did we all need to shower at the same time. At one point you could find us all in the bathroom. While dodging the gowns that hung on the water pipe, we completed our morning routine, Prithvi leading our songs of camaraderie from the shower (Carly Rae Jepsen, anyone?). Something as small as a shower-line had no power to dampen our mood. Tim and I put on our bowties. Paul taught us how to work the gown’s top clasp. Trent yelled some Minnesotan colloquialism, and the six of us left our suite, donut-in-hand. The first elevator was chock full of black gowns. That’s when it got real.
Streams of my classmates were pouring out of Towers towards Alumni Lawn, black garb marked by a colored tassel. We all funneled into one path and started to walk aimlessly. I certainly didn’t know where I was going, and I didn’t get anywhere until I started following the orange tassels—my fellow engineers. After finding my student officer, I was given a card with my name, a number, and a barcode. “They will scan this, and the recording will speak your name when you walk across the stage. Don’t lose it”, they said. That’s an important cardstock.
It was a beautiful day outside and the morning was holding back the heat, but I’m not going to lie, commencement was long. The length and tradition, however, kept it from feeling cheap. Finishing your undergraduate education at Vanderbilt is definitely a big deal, and commencement signified that. That said, it was somewhat of a blur, but here are some highlights. Doctoral gowns are awesome. Someone walked down the aisle carrying a giant golden mace. Zeppos was rocking some major bling. He also knows his social media. The combination of iPhones and organization list-serves leads to a great way to pass the time. Don’t forget twitter. Tim’s bright blue bow tie was featured on the big screen. And, oh yea, I got a diploma.
We had been waiting for this moment for four years. Now that it had finally arrived, there was some bitterness to be found. The ideas of leaving the Nashville community, Vanderbilt, and all these dear friends killed me. Vanderbilt gave me a prestigious education and incomparable experience. More than that though, the relationships that formed are what I will never forget. As the day wore on, we had one last chance to celebrate those relationships, all of us together. And Vanderbilt certainly knows how to throw a party. You’ve never seen so many strawberries in your life.
