Commencement–The Best Day of the Year!

Today’s topic is commencement.

In less than a week, thousands of NOVA Nighthawks will realize their dreams of becoming college graduates. Many will cross the stage on May 15, hearing the cheers of family, friends, faculty and staff filling the EagleBank Arena. I hope you will join us on this—the best day of the year!

At commencement, I have the great honor of shaking our new graduates’ hands and congratulating them on their achievement. I have the privilege of seeing their happiness, pride, tears, relief, nervousness and pure joy up close. From this vantage point, I’ve watched students light up when they hear their names read, listen intently for their family’s voices in the crowd, and search the stands for supporters. I’ve admired the artistry of their grad cap designs and the thought they’ve put into their commencement ‘fits. I’ve been hugged by students I’ve known well and others I’ve just met; been humbled by our graduates’ heartfelt expressions of gratitude to NOVA and blinked back tears when, in the most public of moments, students have shared a glimpse into the private challenges that almost kept them from earning their degrees.

I cannot imagine not attending graduation, which is saying something—because in my first years as a faculty member, I never went.

Back then, Santa Fe held graduation on Friday evening twice a year, and after a long week of grading final papers at the end of the term, I just wanted to go home … where I would, of course, grade some more. I hadn’t even attended my own graduations and didn’t see a reason to attend someone else’s.

Then at the end of one fall, a student I had taught stopped by my office. She re-introduced herself and shared that she hadn’t really participated much in class, so she wasn’t surprised that I didn’t immediately remember her. She was going from office to office asking all her professors to attend commencement because they had helped to make her dream come true.

I can see her in my office doorway as though she were standing before me as I write this. She was so open and real in her pride and happiness. I thought about her walking the entire campus, tracking down years of faculty in hopes that they would join in her celebration. The purposefulness of her invitation hinted at what she must have overcome to make this one night so important. I was ready with a list of reasons I couldn’t attend, but I said yes.

At the end of that week, in the early dark of a December Friday, I dropped a stack of papers in my car and walked over to the college gym. Because I didn’t have any regalia, I didn’t march in with the faculty but instead climbed high up into the almost-full bleachers and sat among the parents, husbands, wives, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends of our graduates. The increasingly rowdy enthusiasm of the crowd became infectious, and I joined in stomping and shouting as the students crossed the stage. When “my” student’s name was called, I gave her my best Florida Field-trained, SEC-football yell. After the ceremony ended, I found her in the hallway, thanked her for the invitation and on the walk back to my car, I waved and shouted “congratulations!” at graduates whose shiny polyester gowns shimmered a bit under the parking lot lights.

It was the best Friday night I could imagine.

I haven’t missed a commencement since.

I look forward to seeing many of you next Monday at NOVA’s commencement ceremonies—and hope to hear your stomping and shouting for all of “your” students. It’s the best day of the year.