A 33rd Commencement

Counting my own 2 commencements I think the commencement I attended yesterday at St. Michael's College  was the 33rd I have sat through not counting several high school commencements and, dare I say, even a kindergarten commencement!

They tend to be always the same except for two major differences; the commencement speaker and, of course, the individual students who are graduating. This year saw some wonderful students graduate with their teaching degrees and licensure recommendations. Many of them have already secured teaching jobs which is a wonderful testimony to the quality and reputation of the St. Mike's teacher education programs. One in particular, Callie Lumbra, was one of two valedictorians at this year's commencement and has been just a wonderful student to work with during the past four years. What makes Callie's achievements more significant is that her mother, Joan, was one of the first students I worked with at Trinity College when I first came to Vermont in 1982: I think she graduated in 1985. For this to happen on mother's day was especially significant and really brings special meaning to the phrase 'like mother, like daughter'.

The other wonderful thing about yesterday's commencement was the graceful wit and generative wisdom of Mark Shields, the commencement speaker. Having seen him many times on PBS and other, commercial TV news programs I always had the feeling there was more to him than meets the eye. This was certainly shown to be true as he regaled the audience with humorous advice, serious rules and finally, a word of hope that as difficult as it might seem to accept sometimes, politics is still the best way of solving our differences. His one piece of advice I think I shall always remember is not to worry about what other people are thinking of you as they are too busy worried about what you are thinking of them!

One of his other pieces of timely advice to the students was to "call your mother". I certainly wish I had heeded this advice more often before my mother passed away eight years ago.     

Commencement - The Pearls of Wisdom

Commencement is but a precious moment in time. Yes, I know that it is longer than a moment, in fact it's usually about 3 hours, but in the big picture of life, graduation is but a fleeting moment. One second you are a HS graduate, the next a college graduate. One second you have a B.A., the next an M.Ed.. One second the tassle hangs on the right, then it is on the left. One second you are an undergrad, the next an alum.

Apart from the joys of graduation, made even more so when it is one of one's own who is doing the graduating, Commencement is a time for collecting pearls of wisdom and there were quite a few this year. "Those who have been helped have a duty to pay it forward" advised Kuanapawa Nangula, a native of Namibia graduating with her Masters degree in TESOL. Kuana gave the graduate student address so eloquently with a wonderful dash of humor when she threatened  to give the full five minute presentation in her "native tongue".

Michael McKinney, the senior class speaker, created a powerful image when he described a dream of "burning stars" -  the light of St. Michael's College. He went on to describe many experiences and lessons learned at St. Mike's that have provided the fuel for those stars to burn well into the future.

And then there was the Commencement speaker, Thomas Freston (67), the creator of MTV who suggested that students should "tread in the footsteps of the future". He also advised students that there is "no rush to be normal", something that I could really identify with. Perhaps his greatest pearl of wisdom was that "passport ink is better than tat ink". I've never heard anyone make a plea for worldliness and global understanding  quite like this before but he is absolutely right. The way forward really is in developing a global perspective through travel and the use of one's passport regardless of the field one chooses.

As for me, my pearl of wisdom which my daughter Marie has heard  so many times is "it just goes to show" as in "it just goes to show what you can achieve when you really try". Congrats on your M.Ed, Swish.