At this time of year, many university students have finished their exams to cap off their degrees. Also, soon-to-be high school graduates are gearing up for their graduation and prom ceremonies. Although I can understand why there is so much excitement in the process, I must admit I have never been a big fan of participating in these sorts of functions.
I still remember my parents dragging me to my high school graduation in Prince George back in 1994. I didn’t understand what the big deal was! Why would I waste a whole day in a stuffy high school gym getting bored with the long speeches, then waiting for my name to be called to get a piece of paper which, I readily admit, came very easily to me. But my parents wanted proof that I was actually graduating from high school, something which they had often doubted would happen during the previous five years. So I obliged them and went — stupid itchy tuxedo and all.
But I bailed on out the prom and the after graduation events such as the dinner and Dry Grad. When my friends asked why I wouldn’t be attending, I told them I was traveling to Vancouver to tour the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Simon Fraser University (SFU). In reality I was playing drop-in ice hockey at the Kin Centres. That’s all you need to know about where my priorities were at that time.
My attitude didn’t change when I arrived at University. SFU had graduation ceremonies in the fall and summer, so I remember walking by as the thousands of graduates sat outside in the Atrium with all their friends and families looking on. I would always think of how I would never submit to participating in such a long drawn out task (Can you believe I honestly thought of it as a task!?) and that I would just disappear when my studies were complete.
I wrote my last exam in December of 2002 and my graduation letter came in February of 2003. Simply put, the letter congratulated me on my completing my Bachelor of Arts degree and informed me that my graduation ceremony would be held in June of that year. My attitude had not changed and besides, I was already working at the time and decided I did not want to waste a vacation day to attend. And this time my parents would not be able to drag me to the ceremony because they would be unable to attend due to other commitments. So June came and went and my freshly minted degree sat at the registrar’s office, patiently waiting for me to pick it up.
So I made the trip up Burnaby Mountain to SFU to receive my degree. Since there was still a semester in progress, the school was quite busy with students’ crisscrossing in every direction. I made my way to the registrar and got in line behind about nine or ten people. When I got to the front of the line, I told the young lady behind the counter that I was there to pick up my degree. After checking my Student I.D., she went into a back room where I suppose they kept such important documents. And so, I waited.
When she came back she stopped about halfway towards the counter and looked at my degree in her hands. I watched her with annoyed curiosity, wondering if maybe she had grabbed the wrong one. But then she looked up at me and walked towards her work station smiling. Holding the degree in her left hand, she extended her right hand towards me and said:
“Mr. Randhawa, congratulations on all your hard work over the past four years.”
Wow. To say I was taken aback would be an understatement. I was genuinely touched at her act of respect, and shook her hand, thanking her as she handed over my degree. Now this is pure speculation on my part, but I got the feeling she felt it would not have been right just to hand over the degree, something which so many of us work so hard to obtain, and say, “Have a nice day.”
As you can tell, I never forgot the kind gesture she gave me that day — and I never get tired of telling the story of my perfect graduation ceremony.
Photo Credits:
Graduation by robb3d @ Flickr
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