Friday, May 14, 2004

A good deal of people have been asking me about my graduation experience, the speaker, what I did, and how it went....so here's a little more in-depth on how the whole weekend went.

Friday the 7th we had our graduation practice at 9 in the morning. The person who thought this was a good idea the night after the Senior Celebration must also have been the same person to make the "free" drinks at said celebreation cost $5. So we go through the hour-long exercise and then Kathy, Becky and I head off to IHOP for some well deserved breakfast. I get home and start packing some more, and my 'rents are already halfway to 'Cuse. The family got in around 4:30 and we hung out at the house for awhile, then went to dinner at Delmonico's, my favorite steakhouse up here, and also home to the best steak I've ever had in my life. For $12 you get their 18 oz. "Delmonico" steak which is second to none. After that I hit up the bars with some friends and went home to get a decent amount of rest before the big day.

Saturday the 8th was my "home college" commencement. So bright and early at 8am I had to be in front of the Hall of Languages to get my picture taken with all the other grads, PhD students and Masters. Then I headed into Schine (our student center which we landed for our commencement...pretty lucky!), for the convocation. That all went well, expect for the dean of my school gave a very inappropriate speech. Very political and it really had no purpose at the IST convocation. Then that night was the Eve of Commencement Dinner in the Carrier Dome. That was all well and good too. Next day the 9th was the actual graduation and here's the speech given by Phylicia Rashad, aka the mom from The Cosby Show, Mrs. Huxtable.

Thank you.

Congratulations and happy Mother’s Day.

Time is precious and short so I'll get right to the point. You asked me to come, so I'm here. And I asked myself, "What could I say to this august body that’s meaningful, and personal and true?” I want to offer this suggestion to you: The best way to live in this world is with a mother’s heart. Yes.

A mother’s heart is brave. A mother’s heart is keenly intelligent. A mother’s heart is resourceful and quick and skilled in action. A mother’s heart is flexible. A mother’s heart is sustained and empowered by the purity of its intention—its soul intention—to see the family through. Yes. And to encourage each member of the family with its diverse, individual personalities. To embrace the family as a whole with love and respect. Unyielding in this effort, the mother’s heart sacrifices its own pleasure for the well-being of the family.

My great wish for all of you is that you would understand that this takes great effort and sustained and renewed commitment, that you would each come to regard this world and all of its inhabitants as your family and that you would embrace it with a mother’s heart.

May all of your days be filled with brilliant sunrises and magnificent sunsets, and may you take the time to regard them. And just like the mother’s heart, may you live in constant remembrance and gratitude for the one who created you. And may good fortune always attend you in all of your endeavors—and tonight may you throw down and celebrate, celebrate, celebrate!

The world that you want to live in needs you to create it. The world that you want to live in needs you to create it. So live in it, and create it with a mother’s heart.

Congratulations.


A much better speech than I anticipated, and honestly from what I know, than others anticipated as well. So the whole graduation thing happened, and I did all the pictures, and said goodbye to a lot of friends. Went out to the bars again that night. And then I got up the next day, and went to class. Yeah doesn't that suck! Graduation was made anticlimactic due to that fact that I've still got these two classes to finish. But that's it...after the 21st of May I'm free to return home, and even though the Writing 307 course is continued online till August 13, I can get the hell out of here.

I really want to, too. I'm tired of Syracuse. It's gotten gorgeous in the week after graduation, proving all the myths that it really warms up after all the students go home. It's been way too hot, and I've had too much to worry about with the whole landlord-court case deal. That went sour as you might have read in the previous post. So as of tommorrow I'm crashing at a friends apartment for the next week. It's a pain in the ass to move, but at this point I'm doing what I've got to do. There's so much on my mind lately, and I really just want to be home in NJ. I actually find myself longing for the streets of suburbia, the Meadowlands, the ten thousand malls and diners, and even the jughandles. Not to mention our drivers are a tad bit safer than those up here. And from what I hear gas prices aren't AS ridiculous as in Syracuse. I miss my friends, and I'm really beyond ready to start my life. A lot troubles the mind and the heart lately, but maybe I just need a change of scenery.

16 straight years of school, with more on the way because I've definitely decided to go for my Masters. That's what this has all led upto, and now it's time for me to make things happen. I think I've made a good start so far. This is only the beginning.

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