78: Congraduations

It's a strange feeling to be officially done. Four years later, and most of what I have to show for it is intangible. At least I have a diploma. That counts for something, I guess. It was exhilarating to deliver my commencement address. I love that this speech was the first thing I did as a college graduate. I spent a few minutes doing breathing exercises before my speech because I felt like my heart was about to explode. I like being on stage, but it's the anticipation that always kills me. I've never practiced so much for a speech, though. One thing I discovered in the process is that a small room is an ideal place for practicing because the echo really helps with my enunciation and pacing. I didn't discover this until last night when I was rehearsing my speech while taking a shower.

Over 6000 people were in attendance for the Science/Liberal Arts commencement, and it was also streamed live online and broadcasted on a local channel. I won't let it get to my head, but it's a wonderful feeling when strangers come up to you afterwards to congratulate you on a job well done and to wish you well. I wanted to do standup comedy in Elliott Hall for BGR last summer, but my request was denied. At least I got to end up on that stage one more time before leaving Purdue, and I got to tell jokes, too, so that makes up for BGR. I even got to use a teleprompter. The lady who ran that also does it for the U.S. President and other bigwigs like that. It was so cool.

Well, I'm officially a college graduate, and I have another degree under my belt. It's been a good run, but it's nice to be retired from college and its responsibilities. Well, I do have some stuff to take care of before I leave for good, but hey, I'm done for the most part. Now if only I could motivate myself to clean my room. I think would be my greatest accomplishment.

It's sad to know that my Purdue class is going to be all broken up next year. There are so many people whom I wish I had gotten to know earlier. Purdue has four graduations, and mine was the third. I attended the last half of the first one (I kind of snuck in, since I didn't have a ticket), and I watched part of the second one online. I guess I'm more interested in my fellow responders rather than the graduation itself, but it is nice to see your friends walking across the stage. I'll either sneak into the final one tomorrow or stream that one online. I really love knowing such amazing people. So much has changed in 4 years that it's really intriguing to think how we might all turn out 20 years later. Scary.