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These ceremonies are meaningful if you invest meaning into them. For my college graduation, the dean did something small to make the ceremony more meaningful.
by pradn 2y ago
These ceremonies are meaningful if you invest meaning into them.
For my college graduation, the dean did something small to make the ceremony more meaningful. He asked us all to stand up, look back to our family, and applaud them for supporting us all these years. For me, looking back at my parents and thanking them for all they've done for me was a beautiful moment. And it was a full-circle moment for our family, the culmination of a long journey of immigrating to the US, moving around in search of stability. We had moved to be able to buy a house and to get us good, affordable educations. Both of those dreams were fulfilled at that time.
I don't recall much else from that ceremony. Not the speakers, but a few of the interactions afterward with my fellow students and their families.
- anal_reactor 2y ago> He asked us all to stand up, look back to our family, and applaud them for supporting us all these years. God I have such a difficult relationship with my parents. Yes, their methods worked, but damn, I'll need years of therapy.
- hnthrow10282910 2y agoSame here. Lots of stress and work for a career that causes me stress only to retire and die.
- ryukoposting 2y agoFair. I hope my kids invest some meaning in it (assuming I have kids someday). Or maybe I don't care if they assign meaning to graduation? I always cared about school, but I saw it as a means to an end. I knew what I wanted to do from a pretty young age, the path to get there was pretty clear, and I went down that path and now here I am, happy that I made it. So, for me, the ceremony really was just a formality because I knew the real reward would be all the exciting stuff I get to do with my education. But, now I'm considering having a family in the next few years, and someday I might want to show them photos from my graduation. I can't do that, though.