Keri Goes Abroad: Graduation

Graduation morning came too soon. As for most of senior week, I was exhausted but excited. The morning dawned cool and cloudy, but by the time commencement began it had gotten a little too hot to wear our black robes.

Bowdoin's commencement ceremony is like no other graduation ceremony, apparently. We parade around the quad for about 45 minutes before we actually get to sit down. I heard one mother proclaim that she was pleased that it lasted so long - after all, she'd paid enough that she better have plenty of time to get a good picture in as we were promenading around! The interesting part is, though, that we promenade through a gauntlet of alums and touch different parts of importance on campus. I had no idea, actually, that they were points of importance until Allen pointed it out. Apparently someone was supposed to explain each point - the first building on campus, the chapel, etc - but they completely dropped the ball. Nonetheless, it's a cool ceremony. We parade past alums who are arranged old to young. All of the older alums are men, since Bowdoin didn't become coed until the '70s, and some of them have attended an obscene number of Bowdoin's commencement ceremonies. The most recent graduates are the last in line, including Dan and his friends. They each get a very fashionable straw hat the first time they return as alums, and a pin for each year after that. Apparently it's a very big deal. After we pass the alums, we walk through the gauntlet of trustees (at which point I hugged Maxine's father and Kate's father, both of whom are on the board). Then, finally, the graduating class separates to create a gauntlet of our own, through which the alums and trustees walk.

The rest of the ceremony is similarly student-centered. There was no famous speaker; instead, two members of the class speak in addition to the President and the Class President. The speeches were surprisingly good, though they could have been a tad shorter for those of us dying in the audience. After what felt like forever, we finally got to receive our diplomas, proceed out of our seats, and attempt to find friends, family, professors, etc, that we're supposed to say bye to or take pictures with. Our dorm rooms were supposed to be packed and empty by that afternoon, which meant that a ton of people headed directly back to their rooms to move. I stayed an extra night and moved the next day, which meant less family time but more time to organize. Finally, finally, after all of the packing was done, I got to return to the family's hotel room and sleep. And sleep I did, for a solid sixteen hours. Oy vey.