graduation day!
it's officially over... well, except for transferring my grades back over from hastings when hastings finishes grading me. then it will be officially over. but i walked on saturday, it was a good time.
the only item of real note, aside from the usual graduation glee, was our keynote speaker. samantha power was a little long-winded, but a lot inspirational. her address was warm, funny, politically poignant, and spoke directly to my personal ethos in ways i haven't yet enunciated (though i heard a few members of the campus chapter of the federalist society express some dismay). she really reaffirmed my belief that i don't need to be a 'real' lawyer to make the most of my law degree. which isn't going to stop me from studying for and taking the bar, but it will stop me from putting too much emphasis on whether or not i pass. i'm not so sure i am going to want to practice traditionally.
congratulations to all my classmates! especially to those who took the process more seriously than i and stressed themselves and their relationships every step of the way. i imagine being able to put the law school experience behind you on saturday was that much more a relief and a joy.
i got stopped by some really unexpected people and congratulated on saturday. i'm not going to get into name-dropping and personal drama, but it really warmed my heart to be congratulated by a few of the people who unexpectedly went out of their way to say hi.
graduation day (counting high school and undergrad, this is my third) is always a day of profoundly mixed emotions. elation for the finality of the experience, melancholy for the memory of good times and good friends that may never be again, optimism and hope for the future that may yet be, and a healthy amount of pride for the accomplishment symbolized by the ceremony.
if i had to pick one emotion that dominated me throughout the day, i think this was my most melancholy graduation to date. it certainly had moments of all of them, but generally i felt that i'd miss these people, i'd miss this place, and i'd miss the intellectual freedom academic life provides. whatever i do next, i'm quite certain it won't be more school, at least not for a while and i think that realization saddened me a bit. not that this ceremony meant the end of learning, but more the end of curiosity unencumbered by practicality. not the end of expanding my intellectual capacity, but the end of exploring it for exploration's sake.
the only item of real note, aside from the usual graduation glee, was our keynote speaker. samantha power was a little long-winded, but a lot inspirational. her address was warm, funny, politically poignant, and spoke directly to my personal ethos in ways i haven't yet enunciated (though i heard a few members of the campus chapter of the federalist society express some dismay). she really reaffirmed my belief that i don't need to be a 'real' lawyer to make the most of my law degree. which isn't going to stop me from studying for and taking the bar, but it will stop me from putting too much emphasis on whether or not i pass. i'm not so sure i am going to want to practice traditionally.
congratulations to all my classmates! especially to those who took the process more seriously than i and stressed themselves and their relationships every step of the way. i imagine being able to put the law school experience behind you on saturday was that much more a relief and a joy.
i got stopped by some really unexpected people and congratulated on saturday. i'm not going to get into name-dropping and personal drama, but it really warmed my heart to be congratulated by a few of the people who unexpectedly went out of their way to say hi.
graduation day (counting high school and undergrad, this is my third) is always a day of profoundly mixed emotions. elation for the finality of the experience, melancholy for the memory of good times and good friends that may never be again, optimism and hope for the future that may yet be, and a healthy amount of pride for the accomplishment symbolized by the ceremony.
if i had to pick one emotion that dominated me throughout the day, i think this was my most melancholy graduation to date. it certainly had moments of all of them, but generally i felt that i'd miss these people, i'd miss this place, and i'd miss the intellectual freedom academic life provides. whatever i do next, i'm quite certain it won't be more school, at least not for a while and i think that realization saddened me a bit. not that this ceremony meant the end of learning, but more the end of curiosity unencumbered by practicality. not the end of expanding my intellectual capacity, but the end of exploring it for exploration's sake.
posted by tobin at 5/22/2006 08:03:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home