Graduation Day

Graduation Day has come and gone. It was very different from my undergrad experience. Instead of actually participating, hi-fiving and just being part of the fun, I was more or less a spectator at my own graduation. I looked with interest at the bachelor’s degree candidates, they seemed full of excitement, hope, and whatchumacallit? more hope. Goodluck to them.

It’s funny, when you now look back, those undergrad days were the bomb. My classes were usually around 10 am or later, and some of my classes met just once a week. That was the easy life. It didn’t seem that way at the time but it sure does now. I think the Masters degree candidates on the other side of the hall, like me, were very jaded. Someone said, “I guess it hasn’t hit them that they are actually going to have to ‘work’ from now on.” We’ve all been part of the active workforce for a while and have become rather cynical about what your degree really accomplishes.

All the same, I was happy to be walking (graduating), even though I’d started out feeling sad that my sisters weren’t able to be there and my friends (also jaded) didn’t see any point in coming to see me walk. It really was a good day. My number one supporter was in the stands with his giant camera around his neck. It made me feel a little sad for him that he was up there alone and not with a group like other families cheering on their loved ones. In the end, I was happy to finally get a hold of my fake certificate and shake the school president’s hand. Yup, that cylindrical thing they give you is indeed fake, the ‘real’ one arrives in about four weeks. Still, it feels good to have this part of my life over. I am not sure what to do next though. It’s not For one very brief moment, I thought it might be nice to go back and get a Ph.D, thus fulfilling a brief fantasy of contributing one day to Nigeria’s young minds as a university professor (I call it my third and final career). Nah, that probably ain’t ever happening. I did think about it though.

Anyways, to celebrate, we went to Nan – the stuck up Thai restaurant in midtown. We were too early and so we decided to go to Dolce – Ashton Kutcher’s new spot. It was still too early for that so we eventually went to Grape to get appetizers before heading back to Nan. They did not disappoint – the hostess wasn’t warm – she gave us an hour to eat and get out – and the Red Snapper was excellent as usual. We ended up going to our favorite dessert joint and by the time we got home at seven or so, I was beat. I napped for a couple of hours and then headed out for drinks with friends until two in the morning. Not so bad day, n’est-ce pas?