Tag: milestone event

My Takeaways from a Graduation at Georgia Tech. in Atlanta

May 26,2023

We drove from Ottawa to Atlanta, a distance of close to 2000 kilometers, to see our granddaughter, Susanna, graduate in architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology.

How could we miss our granddaughter’s graduation? We did not but made me think we have a grandson graduating next year in Oregon; a granddaughter graduating, I think, in Colorado in two years, and another grandson graduating in Virginia the year after. Should we follow this precedent, that would be quite a travel plan for the next few years! Unfortunately, we missed the graduation of our eldest granddaughter who graduated from the University of North Carolina during the Covid shutdown.

Arriving in Atlanta during rush hour, exciting enough, was made even more challenging when we missed our destination, despite using Google Maps on my cell phone. The Google Map showing arrival in seconds just before my wrong turn, suddenly turned into seventeen minutes and a fifteen-mile drive. My four-letter word vocabulary quickly expanded, but it did not help. We had to get back on the interstate and circle back.

In the meantime, my son, Tony, was messaging us inquiring about our whereabouts. By the time we arrived back to where we should have turned left, Tony was standing on the street corner waving to us to be sure to make the left turn to arrive at our hotel, the Midtown Garden Hilton. 

The hotel was within walking distance of the Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, where the 2023 commencement exercises took place, and we walked to the stadium early in the morning.

The closer we got to the stadium, the more people joined us, forming a veritable migration by the time we stopped at the entrance to the stadium where a metal detector gate let people through, one by one. The only items allowed to be taken in were cameras, cell phones, and wallets, and I noticed that some people sported a new and useful product to enter metal detector gates: a plastic see-through purse carried by women.

The wall-to-wall crowd at the entrance gate exuded enthusiasm, I heard people talking proudly about their offspring getting a university degree from one of the elite institutions in the United States. Many of them were formally dressed while others donned jeans. We wore casual, informal clothing matching the early summer weather.

Once inside, we saw the graduating class sitting in rows of chairs in the middle of the stadium floor, facing the end of the football field, where a covered podium was constructed, above which a huge TV screen showed the action on stage. By the time we walked around the stands to the front, close to the podium, the stadium was a third full of its 55,000 capacity. The buzz in the air was loud and palpable, and we had to shout to communicate.

All the best seats were taken, especially those with a backrest. So, we rushed forward, up a few levels, and then down, trying to find seats from where we could take the best pictures of the President shaking hands with the graduates one by one, congratulating them on their achievement. We even found private boxes which had a good view of the ongoing events, but these rooms were glassed in, and we could not hear clearly what went on downstairs. After investigating the layout of the stadium and searching for good seats, we took seats close to the front of the football field.

Although it was not pronounced, I detected a slight accent listening to university president, Angel Cabrera’s introductory speech. He hails from Spain and received his Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in 1995, a nice elevation from student to president in twenty-four years. The Glee Club sang the national anthem following Dr. Cabrera’s speech.

Harrison Butker, the commencement speaker, surprised or perhaps shocked the audience with his recommendation on what the graduating students should do with their lives: he said they should get married and have a family. Now Harrison is not only an NFL hero, a football player with the Kansas City Chiefs, who wears two Super Bowl Rings, but also a Georgia Tech graduate who played football for the university. But his advice on how to conduct your future life created a stir in the audience; my other two granddaughters, college-age, immediately reacted with: “Who is he to tell me to get married? And you do not have to be married to have a family!”

Harrison’s argument centered on what he called the loneliness experienced by today’s youth, despite the connectedness people think they have through social media. He said you will not be happy with whatever you accomplish unless you share it with someone. To him, the sharing was with his wife and family that motivated him today and made him happy.

I thought Harrison was entertaining when he talked about teamwork and perseverance but disappointed when he brought religion into the commencement address, by recommending marriage. But his comments were no surprise, Harrison is a devout catholic and belongs to a conservative group that promotes the practice of an older version of Catholicism, including the belief that sermons should be in Latin.

Dr. Cabrera thanked Harrison for his speech and wondered aloud, with understated humor, how many marriage proposals would take place today.

The graduates were called onto the stage, to shake hands with the president, and proceed to pose before the “Rambling Wreck”, for an official photo. (The Rambling Wreck is a fully renovated Model T Ford, the school’s mascot that is driven around the stadium before each football game.)

The activity on the stage was projected onto the large screen above it for us to see each graduate walk by with their name on the screen.

I was dumbfounded in the beginning, seeing all the Asian and South Asian names following one after the other; of the first fifty graduates called to the podium, I counted twenty-nine Asian names. What is the ethnic composition of the student body here, I asked myself. According to recent statistics, twenty percent of the students are Asian or South Asian. Then I realized that the first to be called were the computer science graduates.

Much as I tried to get ready to take pictures of Susanna when she came by the Rambling Wreck, I had both my camera and cell phone ready, I missed the perfect shot. The pictures I took are out of focus. No matter. We joined up with her after the ceremonies at the architecture building, and took some pictures of her in her gown, along with family.

To celebrate her life milestone, the family went for dinner at NoMas! Cantina. The Cantina served Mexican fare in a space furnished with artifacts from Mexican artists, all of which are available for purchase. A unique place. I thought it was funky with umbrellas hanging from the ceiling, and masks and artifacts decorating the walls. Consistent with the Mexican theme, we started with a margarita, served in a two-foot-tall glass bottle, bulging at the bottom. It was sufficient for eight people.

The dinner punctuated a successful four years of study. So what is next Susanna? I asked. Following a stint with a large architectural firm in Atlanta this summer, she said she will attend Clemson University in South Carolina to study for a master’s degree in architecture. 

A Milestone Event: High School Graduation in Baton Rouge, LA

May 21, 2022

It was a hoot. Literally. People were shouting, hollering, and hooting every time the principal shook hands with each graduating student, handing out their diplomas. The noise was at airplane levels, but positive, with commentary encouraging the graduating class to go forward in life. 

The event was my grandson’s graduation from Baton Rouge Magnet High School (BRMHS), which I attended, along with thousands of parents, siblings, and friends, celebrating the graduating students. It took place at the Pete Maravich Assembly Hall, the home of the Louisiana State University basketball team. More than half of the Hall was filled, which has a capacity of 12,000 seats.  

Security was tight. We had to have tickets, and could not carry an object larger than a cell phone or camera with us. Many people were scurrying back to their cars with purses and iPods, and larger objects that were not allowed. 

The atmosphere inside was boisterous, from toddlers to grandpas talking excitedly, enjoying the moment of graduating students embarking on the next stage of their lives. And leaving the family home.  

We could all see the action on the stage on a huge screen hanging from the ceiling like in hockey arenas. There were 369 chairs in the middle of the floor for the graduating class.  

The commencement exercise started with the school orchestra playing “Pomp and Circumstance” while the graduating class walked in two at a time, followed by the next two fifty feet behind. The orchestra played, repeating the music, until all the students took their seats while the crowd stirred in anticipation. 

Invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance followed, and the national anthem sung by the school choir. After the senior class president welcomed the people, the principal of the school gave an overview of the year; this was her twenty-second graduating class.  

Both the salutatorian and valedictorian gave rousing speeches, making fun of some of their experiences as well as the teachers, in good fun, to the wild applause and laughter of their compatriots sitting and clapping in their chairs.  

Then all the graduating students were called up onto the stage, alphabetically, in a stentorian voice. And this is when the noise level intensified. Families and friends of each student broke into a frenzy of hundred-decibel hoots, waving their arms to be recognized by their son/daughter on the stage, who shook hands with the principal handing out their diplomas. This went on for a couple of hours. When all 369 students received their diplomas, they threw their hats into the air in celebration. 

We left the Hall to wait for Alec, our grandson, and stood by “Mike the Tiger’s” cage. Mike the Tiger, a mixed Siberian-Bengal tiger, is the live mascot of the LSU Tigers football team. Mike lives in a multi-million-dollar habitat. The cage with Mike inside used to be pulled around the football field before games with cheerleaders dancing on top, and for Mike’s every growl, the football team was expected to make a touchdown. We waited for Alec by the Italianate campanile, a part of Mike’s habitat (the architecture reflects LSU’s buildings).  

 People were pouring out of the Hall, waiting for their newly minted graduates who were socializing with each other for the last time as students of BRMHS. It took half an hour to loosen Alec away from his friends. 

BRMHS is a magnet school, a category of public schools that emphasizes specific educational themes. The school Alec attended emphasizes academic performance, and interestingly, his class had a great diversity of students to grow up with (31% black, 22% Asian, and 7% Hispanic. And Alec confided in me that 80% of the students were girls, lucky for him). 

I found the entire experience uplifting in providing the young graduates a solid milestone in their lives. Our three children went through high school in Canada where these events were much more sedate and low-key, performed in the gym of the schools. And, of course, I never finished high school. I walked out of Hungary when I was in grade ten and, after arriving in Canada as a refugee, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver admitted me with no high school diploma.  

People pouring out of the Pete Maravich Assembly Hall after graduation, in Baton Rouge, LA, with Campanile on the left, a part of Mike the Tiger’s habitat.