| graduation! |
| After 3.5 not-so-long years, I received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Spelman College of Atlanta, GA. Commencement activities began on Friday, the 16th of May. On this sunny afternoon, I wore my baccalaurate regalia for the first time. The Class Day activities, originally scheduled for the oval, were moved indoors to Cosby Auditorium, the result of torrential rains saturating the ground. Because of the close quarters, few spectators were able to enjoy. Students were the only speakers of this program... the top honors and the officers. They reminisced about our time spent and wished us well for the future. The End. The Baccalaurate Service, the final religious blessing before commencement, was held on Saturday morning at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. Quite nice. It was a dress rehersal for the actual graduation though a great many of my classmates did not attend. They really missed out - it was magnificent. The speaker was Rev. Vashti Murphy-Mackenzie who posed the question to us: "What are you going to do with the rest of your life?" Something to think about, right? The big day. I woke up so very early on Sunday, the 18th of May. My graduation was not until 4pm, but Morehouse's was at 8am. We (my father and aunts) arrived on campus early so that I could give them a tour of Spelman's campus. My father's attempted picture of me walking through the arch on class day was thwarted, so we recreated it. At this poing there was a slight drizzle. The time was drawing near to see Morehouse's procession, so I made my way to their campus at which point the torrential rains I mentioned earlier returned, completely soaking everyone attending this outdoor graduation. It was so bad that they skipped their speaker (Vernon Jordan) and went straight to the awarding of degrees. Because I had been soaked to the bone, we were going to leave early so that I could dry out in time to get to my ceremony, so we left shortly after the business administration group traversed the stage. (I'm so proud of all my friends!) Needless to say, after that soaking, I had to redo everything from head to toe which left me just enough time to be dressed by the appointed hour. In the lobby of the hotel, everyone was so proud of my appearence (for the first time with my hood and honor cords and all) that I really started to feel the excitement. (It had been just ho-hum since I actually finished six months prior and wasn't having the separtion issues of my classmates.) We took tons of pictures before piling into cars and headed to the church. The ceremony was quite grand. We marched in from all different doors and filed into our respective sections. The Glee Club sang, honorary awards were given, the speaker spoke (Suzan-Lori Parks... 40 pieces of advice on the occasion of her 40th - none of which I remember), and finally, the awarding of degrees. Yada, yada, yada, they went from A-Gray, and then it was my turn. The announcer (was it Dr. Harper or the other lady?) read off: "Katrice Jannine Grayson, Magna Cum Laude" and I proceeded towards Dr. Tatum, pausing briefly to shake her hand and take a picture. I stood so tall and walk with such confidence across the stage as the well wishers cheered me on. It was truly a great feeling. I waited to cheer for a few other people in liberal arts before calmly waiting for the rest of the program to end. After every name was called, we stood and turned our tassels, ceremoniously marking to the end of our undergraduate careers. We were inducted into the Alumna Association, heard a prayer, and were filed, not only out of the sancutary, but out of the building, to be greeted by yet more well wishers. More pictures in the parking lot, a quick dinner at Ruby Tuesday's (we'd had our celebratory meal Saturday night), and after such a long day (it was about 10pm when we reached the hotel), I was knocked out. I woke up Monday morning to get my actual diploma from school and that concluded my commencement weekend. I bet you're wondering what all those pictures I referenced looked like, so click here to see the 30+ image album. |
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