graduation weekend: day 3 of 3

It's another perfect weather day.

My mom and I get to Schoellkopf Field early. We've been told by the new friends we made yesterday at Collegetown Bagels (Lorna and Mike) to sit about four rows back, "closest to the goal post." They tell us all that all the students will pass in front of us, so it's the best seats for photos.

We go exactly to where Mike and Lorna have told us to go, and see them already there. They are both so nice, and so comfortable to be with, we feel as if we've known them for years. 

I have an hour or so before the ceremony begins, so I leave my mom with her new good friends, and walk over to the Arts and Science quad, hoping to see Alexander. As I'm walking over, I think, there will be about 1,000 students there, all dressed exactly alike.  What are the chances I'll find my son?  

But soon after I arrive I spot Daniel, Alexander's closest friend. Now I know I'll find my son. I take a few photos than hurry back to the stadium.

with close friends (since freshman year) John and Daniel

Graduations are boring. Lots of people, dull speeches, and familiar rituals. But today is my son's graduation. And while I have many feelings, boredom is not one of them.

My mom and I are hardly alone in the stadium. We have the best seats, right behind our new friends, Mike and Lorna.

5,500 students enter the stadium. PhD's. Graduate Students. Professional School graduates. And then the seven undergraduate colleges. Some students decorate their caps. Some have long selfie sticks. A bunch of guys do a coordinated dance. Others pause for a group shot. Some march by somberly. Others have huge grins. A group of girls all wear similar white dresses. One girl stumbles on her very high heels. But my favorite is a male undergrad who walks on holding his cap in front of him. Printed on the cap, in big white letters, are the simple words,"Thank you mom."

The very last college to march on the field is Arts and Sciences. 

And at the end of the very last college is Alexander and his close friends. Four years of hard work, new friendships, and memories I have no clue about, come down to this.

Immediately following the school commencement, every department has their own reception and ceremony.  There we meet up with Sal and Diane (nonno and lala to Alexander). They have driven up from NYC, just for the day, just to see their first grandchild graduate. 

Even at a school as big as Cornell, when it all gets broken down into college then department, it's like the neighborhoods of New York — warm, personal, and with its own character and charm.

The graduates are presented individually in a thankfully short ceremony.

with other History graduates

Alexander's grandparents are very proud.

Alexander leaves us for an hour to say good-bye to some friends. It's hard to graduate, but I hope these four years have prepared my son well for what comes next — whatever that may be.

When Alexander returns from his good-byes, we do some more walking around the bucolic campus. Alexander reminds us of Ithaca's harsh winters, and the barren trees that populate the campus for most of the year. But all we see today is the school's profound beauty. And its many joyous families.