Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a university
graduation ceremony. It wasn’t just any old
graduation ceremony – it was the one in which my son received his undergraduate
degree. Finally, after years of study
and undergoing a change of direction, he was able to walk across the stage and
receive that bit of paper that says he accomplished his goal. It was a pretty proud moment for Jim and me.
Just a few observations, if you don’t mind.
There were over 600 graduating students in The Kid’s ceremony
– some undergrads, some graduate students and a few PhDs – and it took a long
time for them all to file in and find their seats.
The procession started out much as you’d expect – gowned young
men and women following the person in front, watching to see which seat was
theirs.
Then there was that one young woman who walked in, talking
on her phone the entire time. And then more
students walked in, talking on their phones during this formal procession of graduates. It seemed so odd to me that they couldn’t talk
before the ceremony started or wait until it was over. Apparently, it’s unreasonable to expect that
phones will be put away for the ten or 15 minutes it took to get them all to
their seats.
The phones didn’t go away at any time during the graduation
ceremony: a surprising number of
students took selfies when they were shaking the hand of the university
president. Many of them texted during
the ceremony (and my boy was right in there with the best of them – but I’m not
complaining because I was texting him back.
He told me afterward that he was texting three different people.). A young man below me was playing a game on his
device.
I suppose we all found ways to amuse ourselves during boring
speeches and long ceremonies back before cell phones were even an idea. We probably fidgeted and looked around and
jabbed our neighbour and tried not to snicker too loudly. Maybe the smart phones are a good idea – at least
they can be quieter than all the shuffling about and snickering.
The most interesting thing to me – and what I found to be touching
- was the number of students who, once they found their seats, turned around to
the audience to find their families.
Once they found them, they waved, huge grins spread across their faces. It
reminded me of church Christmas pageants, when little kids troop on stage and,
no matter what they were supposed to be doing, search the audience for their
parents and grin and wave.
Yes, these were young men and women being officially
launched into the world, but at heart, they are still their parent’s children,
looking to make sure their parents are watching. It was pretty sweet.
