Confession, I am sort of a higher education dork and I love graduation/convocation/commencement season. I love the mix of emotions, the energy, seeing the students walk across the stage (some who are actually graduating, some who are just going through the motions) and hearing all the speeches (I watch graduation speeches on YouTube for fun). I have heard some great speeches since coming out here - no offense to my Alma Mater. Perhaps it is simply because it is not my graduation I now find some level of enjoyment at it but I certainly wish I had the witty advice shared here as an undergraduate.
While I may not have soaked up the advice given in the speeches at my graduations, I will soak up what I can here and now and apply it moving forward with my MFA in Dance. One piece I'm taking with me this time was shared by our dean who told the students to know and understand that their success will also depend on someone else giving them an opportunity to be successful. I very much feel that way with where I am right now and I am grateful for where I am going within the dance program here.
... Speaking of dance, there is a super fun graduation tradition here for dancers that I look forward to participating in. All dancers - undergraduate and graduate - will dance barefoot across the stage as they graduate! I'm already working on my choreography! I may have started mid-convocation because, well, there were a lot of students graduating (700, I think) and I got bored, so I worked out some possible 8-counts in my head. I'm also learning from other dancers' executions during graduation. For example, turns don't work unless that cap is really bobby-pinned to your head quite well, any sort of extension is limited based on what you wear underneath the gown, and if you choose to do something that requires room to move simply unzip the gown. See? I've learned a lot in the four graduation ceremonies I have attended since graduating twice myself.
I love that part of my role as an advisor here is to march with my
students at convocation each spring and fall semester. This time, I was
sandwiched between my film students and my BAs and I could not have been
happier (don't tell them that). While they walked across the stage
shaking hands with the deans and directors, I saw some of my hard work
to get them to that point pay off - it takes a village, right? The best part was
all the thanks yous, the hugs, the handshakes, and other brief moments
of gratitude I felt from my students. I was not expecting any sort of acknowledgment
especially since many of them I had only met with for a single 30-minute
meeting. It was truly a rewarding ending to the semester.
Thanks for reading!
- M
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