For some high school students, graduation ceremonies this year will be just a lot of "pomp and circumstance." The "lame hats" and stuffy robes, the drone from the podium and the ponderous music will be something to endure.
Fortunately, most graduates don't feel that way. Despite living in a world that moves a mile a minute and concentrates on the "next new thing," the majority of graduates do seem to realize that the ceremony makes them part of something serious and large. People have been donning those mortarboards for centuries. And though the music may be solemn, it also speaks of majesty.
In short, in the world of fast food and faster cars, graduation ceremonies are a throwback — one of the few things that offer continuity. Commencement stubbornly holds on to what has gone before simply because it has gone before. The ceremony itself seems to say the long view is the best view, what's meaningful will last. And graduation — with its processional, "tassel flips," diplomas and a vocabulary licked clean by a million scholars — is indeed meaningful.
It makes young people part of something ancient and stately. It calls them to soberness. It helps them realize they are part of a special society. It allows them to not only look ahead but look at the graduates who have gone before.
This spring, that would be our wish for the class of 2007. Grads, you may forget what the speaker had to say — you may even forget who the speaker was. You may forget to return your robe on time, and over the years you may misplace your diploma. But do remember the ceremony. Remember what it felt like to be honored and regal for a couple of hours. Remember how it felt to put on clothing and an attitude that made you part of a grand club — a club of square hats that links you with Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Mozart.
Feel celebrated. And take some pride in feeling celebrated.
Then, years from now, when other events and moments rekindle those same high-minded feelings within in you, use them as markers on the road to a more meaningful life.
Congratulations.
You made your alma mater proud.