Missing a Graduation

Finals are over. I have no grading because I’m away on sabbatical. I would have been back if not for Covid-19 and the postponement of graduation ceremonies. Besides the ceremony proper, there are typically many small meetings honoring and celebrating different groups of students. But none of it is happening this spring, at least physically. (My department did put together a “graduation video” and there are online gatherings for celebration.)

Is missing a graduation significant? I don’t know. I honestly don’t remember much of my own undergraduate ceremony. (I had never attended a graduation ceremony before, having grown up in a country where such things did not happen in primary and secondary schools.) I do remember that we were able to hold the ceremony outdoors because it wasn’t raining, but that the ground was slightly muddy from recent precipitation. There are pictures of me in my robes, but I couldn’t tell you anything about the ceremony or what it felt like. (Probably anticlimactic.) Maybe it was too long ago.

I was planning on skipping my PhD graduation. My spouse and I had already moved to a different city for our postdocs, but her parents really wanted to attend, so off we went. Thankfully it was only a two-hour drive away. All I remember is that it was a really, really hot day (over 100 Fahrenheit) and we were sweltering in the black robes. The graduation speech by Gordon Moore was humorous and mercifully short. After being hooded, I felt even hotter and more uncomfortable around the neck area. The moment the ceremony was over, the majority of us tore off our robes and rushed for shade and a cold drink.

On the other hand, I’ve very much enjoyed seeing my beaming students and their families on graduation weekend. There is lots of hand-shaking and congratulating and words of appreciation. We might still have that experience. My university has moved the physical ceremony proper to a weekend during the fall semester; I am looking forward to seeing the graduating/graduated seniors in person then. In the meantime, all I can offer remotely is the photo of a graduation llama I took in a store early this year before the impact of Covid-19 was felt significantly.