Commencement

Today I attended my niece’s commencement at the University of Idaho (UI). What a beautiful experience! Nothing like being surrounded by the excitement of graduation to make you feel renewed.

The speeches, the videos, the photos. You can feel the pride in the air. The parents and family shouting the names of the graduates as they go through the podium. The cheers and applause growing as the afternoon went on. A lot of love in the air.

Listening to the remarks made me reminisce about my own graduations. I have had several graduations throughout my lifetime. Don’t remember much of the graduations before high school. I bet they were important to my parents, but I honestly can’t say that they were memorable to me. I do remember a bit about my eight grade graduation – the leap from middle school to high school. I guess that was many years ago and it is hard to remember. However, I know it was a very proud moment to myself and my parents, as I was the top student of the class. Then there was the high school graduation. The year was 1980. That one is a little bit more ingrained in my memory. Again, I was the top student of my class and I remember writing the speech. I still have that speech and I was able to bring it back to life during my high school 25th reunion. I remember looking at the graduation pictures. I looked like a General with so many medals on my chest. I received a gold medal for every discipline where I was the top student. And yes, I took them all! Graduating from high school was certainly memorable and I will never forget the pride exuded by my parents as they saw their oldest daughter getting recognition for achieving such a significant milestone.

Then it was college. I received my degree in Chemistry in 1984 from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez. My years at college are very dear to my heart. I made lifelong friends during college. There was so much growth during my college years. I can say that I was finally flying from my parent’s nest – little by little, year by year, as I spent four years in college. I developed my personality and started feeling like an individual – not any longer my parent’s daughter, but myself. College years were forming years. Those were the years where I started searching for my soul – unknowingly – by starting questioning my future and my purpose. I did well in college (I continued to have very good grades), but I also can say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time in college.