Graduation Update

sent via email June 16, 2010...

Howdy Kids,

Zippity doo dah, zippety aye - my o my, what a wonderful day! I totally had a blast this past weekend. The graduation hoopla was even more fun than I imagined it to be.

Thursday evening began with a reception in Red Square on the UW campus. When we arrived at the tent, there was a big display of purple and white cupcakes arranged in the form of the iSchool logo... 

After they allowed ample time for Kodak moments, we were allowed to dig in. Fortunately, I chose a chocolate cupcake with white frosting. Some did not choose so wisely. I saw quite a few people walking around with purple teeth, tongue, and lips. Though we were told they would only be serving cake and espresso, they actually put on quite a spread of hors d'oeuvres. Too bad we had just eaten dinner!

Since I graduated a year ahead of most of the classmates that I started with, I did not recognize any of the students at the reception. I did, however, have a chance to chat with a couple of my professors including Hazel Taylor who is supervising my research project this summer. By the way, Stacy, I passed along your greetings to Matt Saxton. He says, "Hi," back at ya.

Promptly at 7:10p, it was time to make my way to the studio theater where we would line up for the processional. I was delighted to discover a few people from my incoming cohort, as well as a familiar face from another cohort with whom I took a class last year. They were the only four people in the whole place that I knew, and would you believe we all ended up sitting next to each other! After receiving detailed instructions regarding the Convocation ceremony, it was time to make our way into the Maxey Hall Auditorium.

It is impossible to describe the feeling that hit me when I stepped through the doorway into the auditorium. Hearing Pomp and Circumstance coupled with the cheering crowd, it nearly brought a tear to my eye! Though I couldn't see where they were seated, it did my heart good to know that I had people there. My parents, my roommate Becky, my cousins Karen and Pete, and my old friend Joan Martin (from my undergraduate days) were all in the crowd somewhere. My cousin Karen, who is a fellow UW Master of Library Science graduate from a few years back, finally got to see what she missed when she was unable to attend her own ceremonies. Did you know it takes four PhDs to place a hood and properly arrange it on a graduate? It was quite a process, and very cool to be a part of it. From start to finish, it was an exciting evening. UW iSchoolers are quite a crazy bunch - nothing like the stereotypical librarians - that's for sure.

After the ceremony I got lost in a sea of people - graduates and guests - the entire auditorium crammed into the Maxey Hall lobby. After it became clear that I would not run into my own people any time soon, I used my cell phone to call Becky. We began describing our locations to each other. I walked toward the television monitor beneath which she said she was standing. However, the people were so thick that we actually physically bumped into each other before we were aware we had found each other. She lead me to where the rest of the gang were waiting, and I had a nice, albeit brief, visit with my guests. There certainly wasn't enough time to catch up on the fourteen or fifteen years since I last saw Joan, but I am so touched that she took time out of her busy schedule to come to my ceremony - especially since she would be flying out on the red eye special the following morning to go to California for a wedding. I was happy that I'd get to visit more with Karen and Pete during dinner on Saturday night after Commencement.

I prayed for a beautiful, sunny day for the Saturday Commencement ceremony. It was exactly that. It was also quite HOT. What was I thinking?!!! Nevertheless, I was thankful it was not pouring down rain. I was excited that, once again, I would have guests at the ceremony. In addition to my parents, and my roommate Becky, my cousins Bob and Kelly drove over from the Tri-Cities the night before, to be there.

We left the Marriott thirty minutes ahead (plenty of time on a normal day) of when I was supposed to be lining up at the Dempsey indoor practice field. My instruction sheet said to be there promptly at noon. The traffic on the way to Husky stadium was thick as thousands poured into the E1 parking lot. We parked at noon, but I had a long walk to where I needed to be. But, given that many other graduates were still pouring in, I was not too worried.

At Convocation, I had met Jean Marie through the gal I knew from my LIS 570 class last year (and as it turns out, Jean Marie and I are in a class together this summer). Since none of our other acquaintances were planning to attend Commencement, Jean Marie and I made an agreement to hook up with each other on Saturday. Once I arrived at the line up area for Master students, I started looking for fellow iSchool students based on hood color. Soon I found Jean Marie. She was standing with Bix with whom I had a class in winter quarter this year, and Justin Day with whom I had a class last year. I did not immediately recognize Justin (its hard to tell what someone looks like from a one inch picture), but he recognized me. He introduced himself and reminded me we had been in INFX 542 together last year. I did recognize him by name, even though I hadn't recognized him by face. He said, "You saved my bacon in that class. Thank you for all your help." And so, I was once again happy to be sitting with some familiar cohorts.

Did I mention it was HOT? Well, the Dempsey indoor practice field was no exception. The UW generously provided water for us graduates - well, little plastic cups of water, that is. I have three words for the suggestion box for next year: BOTTLED WATER PLEASE! The water line was quite long. When I finally made it to the front of the line, the water dispenser ran dry. Ugh! Now I had to wait for refills. Once I finally got my water, I was thirsty again before I even returned to my place in the processional line.

An hour and a half after we assembled on the practice field it was finally time for the processional. Once again, it was exciting to enter a stadium full of cheering "fans," and touching to know that I had people among them. After I was seated, I was able to find their location in the stands by calling my roommate on her cell. I knew approximately where they would be, because we had previously discussed which bleacher section would be nearest to where I would be sitting on the field, but I was having trouble picking them out until they signaled me. The cohorts around me were not so lucky to find their people.

This ceremony had a very different flavor than the Convocation. It was more like a big party. There were a lot of special recognitions, honorariums, and long speeches prior to getting to the distribution of the ceremonial diplomas. My cohorts and I made our own fun along the way. Three hours later, it was finally time to march on stage. I was fortunate to be in the line that got to shake hands with the UW president, Mr. Mark Emmert himself. Minutes later I was right back in my seat. Once the PhD and Master students had received diplomas, we now had to wait for the thousands of undergrads to get theirs. It seemed like an endless sea of black robes behind us. Eventually, the lines came to an end and it was time to sing the closing song. Whew! It was fun, but I was glad it was over. Sun baked and parched, I made a beeline out of there. My cousins and Becky were waiting for me on the back side (my folks had left shortly after I got my diploma) and we immediately headed for the car.

Thanks to Bob's fancy driving skills, we made it to our dinner reservation at Buca di Beppo a lot less late than we could have been. My folks and Karen and Pete were there ahead of us so that we would not lose our time slot. The rest of the evening was spent celebrating with all my people, and getting stuffed on good food. Truly it was a weekend to remember.

Those of you who sent me cards and gifts along the way, THANK YOU very much. It was unexpected, but greatly appreciated. One chapter is coming to a close, a new one is beginning.

Happy Days,
: ) Jana Lu