Another Cardinal alum in the family - NCC Graduation 2019
Now you know why I wanted to at least get through this afternoon. :)
When I found out T wasn't able to walk with the graduates last year, since she wouldn't finish her requirements by the summer (she student taught in the fall), I really hoped she'd participate this year. Graduating from college is a big deal, and not all of her siblings likely will get to do so. She was noncommittal about it last year, not knowing where life would take her by this point in time, but when I checked in with my cousin last month, she confirmed T would be walking. Okay, I am so coming to graduation. It helps that there are no tickets; it's general seating.
Full disclosure: This is part of what made me so anxious this week. Not only was work stressing me out, but I was worried about this. Where was I going to park? There's only so much parking on campus. Sure, I can park at the big parking deck, but I'd planned to wear a dress and heels and that would add several blocks, not to mention several flights of stairs. Also, I'd had an idea of where I'd wanted to sit, up in the balcony, on the far left so I could see not only the grads after they'd gotten their diploma covers, but also the band, which was on that side. I went looking last night on the college's website, which had a bunch of grad stuff on it--it freaked me out a little, because the seating it showed only had floor level, nothing in the balcony. Oh, crap. Okay, guess I'll sit in the back on the floor on that side; I wanted to be able to get up and take pictures and not bother too many people. But the good news is that there was also a parking map, which reminded me of the tiny lot at Meiley-Swallow Hall. This is very close to the public lot where I park for concerts and slightly closer drive-wise than, say, Pfeiffer or the science center lots, where I initially wanted to check for open spots. Res/Rec, the host building, would open at 8:30. When dad saw me this morning, he joked, I figured you were camping out overnight! Heh. No, no, I just want to get there before 9. I left the house about ten after 8, got a spot at Meiley-Swallow a bit later, and walked down to Res/Rec--and overheard someone in front of me not only mention balcony seating, but that you went to the third level to access it. Awesome.
The balcony is actually the walking track that circles above the main area, but you could fit two rows of chairs and still have an aisle behind them to walk. The only bad thing is that there's just one access point, aside from emergency exits, because the "res" part is what's behind much of it--it's residential, and dorm rooms, or at least their access halls, are on the other side of the walls. You need a key to get in there. This meant I made sure to find a seat, use the bathroom, and then I stayed put. I was up by the curve leading to a short side, but I could see the band pretty well; any further along that short side and you couldn't see all of them. The access point, for reference, was at the other end of the long side.
A long row of chairs in front of me got taken up by one family; they must have had 10 people. There were some seemingly empty chairs in their row, but they were being saved for some late-comers, including a little boy of about 6. He ended up in front of me, which was perfect, because he was short enough to see over when he did sit down, and a good portion of the time, he sat elsewhere, like a parent's lap. There was a group of five to my right, and...hey...is that Alan Krashesky from Channel 7? I quickly rifled through my program and looked under all the Ks, but no. Hmm. Guy's a dead ringer.
The band played a number of songs, and both Larry and Dr. K conducted. I had texted Dr. K a few days ago and joked that I pictured them trading off during "Pomp and Circumstance," which seems to go on forever no matter how many grads you have (I think there were about 800 all told). He said, no, that's all Larry; it's a seniority thing. But he did get to conduct. I was super tempted to ask if he was doing the song "Proud Heritage," which I played every year for the honors convocations (up in the balcony at Pfeiffer, which was super fun *cough*), but held off...so yeah, I about had to laugh when he did, in fact, conduct that.
I had absolutely no idea where my cousin's family was or who all was coming; I hadn't heard from her at all. (Later, I'd find out she emailed me very late last night and I didn't see it until well after I got home.) Oh well. I figured I'd hear them when T's name got called. I paid attention to the speakers, and the commencement address was given by Jim Williams, who's an anchor at Channel 2, so there really was at least one local newsman on site. Part of his speech was about putting your phones down and living amongst the living, being present in the real world and not online. The entire time he was talking about that, one of the young men in front of me was on his phone. His dad was next to him and I kept waiting for the dad to nudge him and be like, uh, maybe you should listen. The kid did put his phone away, eventually, but still. Come on.
The Master's candidates went first, and the group of 5 next to me were all standing by the railing; there were a few spaces for that where chairs hadn't been put. I heard them go, she's next! And sure enough, that really was Alan Krashesky and his family; his daughter--who must be married, as she had two last names and was listed under the second--earned an advanced degree, so congrats to her. Also, the family in front of us cheered loudly with them, which they appreciated. Then, when that family's grad came up (she was an M, on the page before T), when they started cheering, the Krashesky clan joined in, heh. That was pretty cool.
I had been asked by my dad to get pictures--on my phone! Like, he specifically requested that. Well, my phone's camera isn't that great, but I still made sure to have them both ready when T's turn came. I got some pictures on both, but as expected, my phone one didn't turn out that well. I took close to 200 pictures on my camera (...including two surreptitious ones of Alan...) and it might take a little time to look through those to see what came out and what didn't. They're all downloaded, though, because of what happened after the ceremony; more in a moment. I can say that I was able to see T as she walked back to her row, and she had some sort of yellow thing on her cap. At the end of the ceremony, when the various choir and band members came up to lead the crowd in the Alma Mater, I was able to see which one was her because of that--plus her hair is pretty long, so that helped, too.
Most people were leaving when the band played the final few songs; I let everyone go and took more pictures of the band. The cleanup crew wasted no time in packing up the chairs up there, let me tell you. Okay, I want to see if I can get down there to say hi to the directors, so if I go while the band's still playing, I know they won't have left. However, the line for the stairs was completely stopped, which was weird. What, did somebody get hurt? I'd been told on the way up that the elevator was extremely slow, and I didn't feel like taking it, so I went back to the balcony to listen to the band for a bit longer, but also to peer over the side in case I saw my cousin and her family; no go. After another song or so, the stairwell was cleared out--and a woman was standing on the second story landing to warn people that it might be wet, because someone had overheated or something and gotten sick. ...Oh. Wow. Glad I missed that.
The band was done playing when I finally got down there, and they were doing some housekeeping stuff like clearing songs out of folders and stacking them up on the floor. I got to say hi to Larry, who wasn't conducting, and eventually got to say hi to Dr. K once he officially dismissed the band and wished them a happy summer. I asked if I could get a picture of the two of them together in their regalia, since this scenario likely won't happen again; they not only obliged, but asked for copies. Larry asked first, then Dr. K was like, text it to me; I'll get it to him. Uh... *holds up camera* Well, we'll get it figured out. (So now you know why everything's already downloaded; I'll send it to them tomorrow.) I got to talk to Dr. K briefly; it sounds like a couple more people got hired in the department, and he won't have to oversee the student teachers any longer, which is a big load off his plate. Good. I know that was helping stress him out this year. I mentioned that my summer concert season started this week, and he said he might come out in June--but we don't have a concert on the 20th (it's the jazz band), and he's out of town on the 27th, so that might mean he's coming this next Thursday. Believe it when I see it, but that would be nice for him to check us out. I then let him be, since I had to go searching for the fam.
By now, nearly everyone was outside, clumped together in groups. I left Res/Rec and went around the back of the fieldhouse, coming up through the plaza, glancing around at everyone. I managed to spot T on the north side of the little access road through that area and went running. She had no idea I was coming and was very (happily) surprised to see me. I gave her a big hug, then went around hugging everyone else--my cousin, the two younger girls, and my aunt. No husband, and my goddaughter had minor surgery this week and apparently developed some sort of complication, so she wasn't up to coming. We talked, we took a bunch of pictures, and eventually T had to grab stuff from a friend's dorm room, run it to her car, and she wanted to take pictures in front of Wentz. She also had a timeframe, as she needed to catch a train to go to a friend's place...somewhere. That didn't stop the rest of us from talking for a while, but eventually the group went to my cousin's car, and I walked up to Wentz, where I beat everyone there but T was next. I got a few pictures of her alone before the rest came; my aunt stayed in the car. T had wanted to do a bunch of poses, specifically in front of Wentz, with the name in the background; easier said than done with some of the pictures. There were also balloons reading 2019 in the window, which added to the backdrop. The fun pictures were with her jumping in the air; I got a nice one and sent that along to various family members, plus one of me and T in front of Wentz, and one of her with all her family. And then T realized what time it was and was like, I gotta go, I have to run home and change first, then go to the train. They'd talked about getting Jimmy John's for lunch but time was so short that I couldn't join them. T would go home while her mom got the food, and then once my cousin got home, she'd likely hand over the sandwich and T would eat it in the car on the way to the train station. She would have just enough time to do all that, hopefully. But she did give me a hug and thank me for coming; of course. Cardinals flock together.
When I found out T wasn't able to walk with the graduates last year, since she wouldn't finish her requirements by the summer (she student taught in the fall), I really hoped she'd participate this year. Graduating from college is a big deal, and not all of her siblings likely will get to do so. She was noncommittal about it last year, not knowing where life would take her by this point in time, but when I checked in with my cousin last month, she confirmed T would be walking. Okay, I am so coming to graduation. It helps that there are no tickets; it's general seating.
Full disclosure: This is part of what made me so anxious this week. Not only was work stressing me out, but I was worried about this. Where was I going to park? There's only so much parking on campus. Sure, I can park at the big parking deck, but I'd planned to wear a dress and heels and that would add several blocks, not to mention several flights of stairs. Also, I'd had an idea of where I'd wanted to sit, up in the balcony, on the far left so I could see not only the grads after they'd gotten their diploma covers, but also the band, which was on that side. I went looking last night on the college's website, which had a bunch of grad stuff on it--it freaked me out a little, because the seating it showed only had floor level, nothing in the balcony. Oh, crap. Okay, guess I'll sit in the back on the floor on that side; I wanted to be able to get up and take pictures and not bother too many people. But the good news is that there was also a parking map, which reminded me of the tiny lot at Meiley-Swallow Hall. This is very close to the public lot where I park for concerts and slightly closer drive-wise than, say, Pfeiffer or the science center lots, where I initially wanted to check for open spots. Res/Rec, the host building, would open at 8:30. When dad saw me this morning, he joked, I figured you were camping out overnight! Heh. No, no, I just want to get there before 9. I left the house about ten after 8, got a spot at Meiley-Swallow a bit later, and walked down to Res/Rec--and overheard someone in front of me not only mention balcony seating, but that you went to the third level to access it. Awesome.
The balcony is actually the walking track that circles above the main area, but you could fit two rows of chairs and still have an aisle behind them to walk. The only bad thing is that there's just one access point, aside from emergency exits, because the "res" part is what's behind much of it--it's residential, and dorm rooms, or at least their access halls, are on the other side of the walls. You need a key to get in there. This meant I made sure to find a seat, use the bathroom, and then I stayed put. I was up by the curve leading to a short side, but I could see the band pretty well; any further along that short side and you couldn't see all of them. The access point, for reference, was at the other end of the long side.
A long row of chairs in front of me got taken up by one family; they must have had 10 people. There were some seemingly empty chairs in their row, but they were being saved for some late-comers, including a little boy of about 6. He ended up in front of me, which was perfect, because he was short enough to see over when he did sit down, and a good portion of the time, he sat elsewhere, like a parent's lap. There was a group of five to my right, and...hey...is that Alan Krashesky from Channel 7? I quickly rifled through my program and looked under all the Ks, but no. Hmm. Guy's a dead ringer.
The band played a number of songs, and both Larry and Dr. K conducted. I had texted Dr. K a few days ago and joked that I pictured them trading off during "Pomp and Circumstance," which seems to go on forever no matter how many grads you have (I think there were about 800 all told). He said, no, that's all Larry; it's a seniority thing. But he did get to conduct. I was super tempted to ask if he was doing the song "Proud Heritage," which I played every year for the honors convocations (up in the balcony at Pfeiffer, which was super fun *cough*), but held off...so yeah, I about had to laugh when he did, in fact, conduct that.
I had absolutely no idea where my cousin's family was or who all was coming; I hadn't heard from her at all. (Later, I'd find out she emailed me very late last night and I didn't see it until well after I got home.) Oh well. I figured I'd hear them when T's name got called. I paid attention to the speakers, and the commencement address was given by Jim Williams, who's an anchor at Channel 2, so there really was at least one local newsman on site. Part of his speech was about putting your phones down and living amongst the living, being present in the real world and not online. The entire time he was talking about that, one of the young men in front of me was on his phone. His dad was next to him and I kept waiting for the dad to nudge him and be like, uh, maybe you should listen. The kid did put his phone away, eventually, but still. Come on.
The Master's candidates went first, and the group of 5 next to me were all standing by the railing; there were a few spaces for that where chairs hadn't been put. I heard them go, she's next! And sure enough, that really was Alan Krashesky and his family; his daughter--who must be married, as she had two last names and was listed under the second--earned an advanced degree, so congrats to her. Also, the family in front of us cheered loudly with them, which they appreciated. Then, when that family's grad came up (she was an M, on the page before T), when they started cheering, the Krashesky clan joined in, heh. That was pretty cool.
I had been asked by my dad to get pictures--on my phone! Like, he specifically requested that. Well, my phone's camera isn't that great, but I still made sure to have them both ready when T's turn came. I got some pictures on both, but as expected, my phone one didn't turn out that well. I took close to 200 pictures on my camera (...including two surreptitious ones of Alan...) and it might take a little time to look through those to see what came out and what didn't. They're all downloaded, though, because of what happened after the ceremony; more in a moment. I can say that I was able to see T as she walked back to her row, and she had some sort of yellow thing on her cap. At the end of the ceremony, when the various choir and band members came up to lead the crowd in the Alma Mater, I was able to see which one was her because of that--plus her hair is pretty long, so that helped, too.
Most people were leaving when the band played the final few songs; I let everyone go and took more pictures of the band. The cleanup crew wasted no time in packing up the chairs up there, let me tell you. Okay, I want to see if I can get down there to say hi to the directors, so if I go while the band's still playing, I know they won't have left. However, the line for the stairs was completely stopped, which was weird. What, did somebody get hurt? I'd been told on the way up that the elevator was extremely slow, and I didn't feel like taking it, so I went back to the balcony to listen to the band for a bit longer, but also to peer over the side in case I saw my cousin and her family; no go. After another song or so, the stairwell was cleared out--and a woman was standing on the second story landing to warn people that it might be wet, because someone had overheated or something and gotten sick. ...Oh. Wow. Glad I missed that.
The band was done playing when I finally got down there, and they were doing some housekeeping stuff like clearing songs out of folders and stacking them up on the floor. I got to say hi to Larry, who wasn't conducting, and eventually got to say hi to Dr. K once he officially dismissed the band and wished them a happy summer. I asked if I could get a picture of the two of them together in their regalia, since this scenario likely won't happen again; they not only obliged, but asked for copies. Larry asked first, then Dr. K was like, text it to me; I'll get it to him. Uh... *holds up camera* Well, we'll get it figured out. (So now you know why everything's already downloaded; I'll send it to them tomorrow.) I got to talk to Dr. K briefly; it sounds like a couple more people got hired in the department, and he won't have to oversee the student teachers any longer, which is a big load off his plate. Good. I know that was helping stress him out this year. I mentioned that my summer concert season started this week, and he said he might come out in June--but we don't have a concert on the 20th (it's the jazz band), and he's out of town on the 27th, so that might mean he's coming this next Thursday. Believe it when I see it, but that would be nice for him to check us out. I then let him be, since I had to go searching for the fam.
By now, nearly everyone was outside, clumped together in groups. I left Res/Rec and went around the back of the fieldhouse, coming up through the plaza, glancing around at everyone. I managed to spot T on the north side of the little access road through that area and went running. She had no idea I was coming and was very (happily) surprised to see me. I gave her a big hug, then went around hugging everyone else--my cousin, the two younger girls, and my aunt. No husband, and my goddaughter had minor surgery this week and apparently developed some sort of complication, so she wasn't up to coming. We talked, we took a bunch of pictures, and eventually T had to grab stuff from a friend's dorm room, run it to her car, and she wanted to take pictures in front of Wentz. She also had a timeframe, as she needed to catch a train to go to a friend's place...somewhere. That didn't stop the rest of us from talking for a while, but eventually the group went to my cousin's car, and I walked up to Wentz, where I beat everyone there but T was next. I got a few pictures of her alone before the rest came; my aunt stayed in the car. T had wanted to do a bunch of poses, specifically in front of Wentz, with the name in the background; easier said than done with some of the pictures. There were also balloons reading 2019 in the window, which added to the backdrop. The fun pictures were with her jumping in the air; I got a nice one and sent that along to various family members, plus one of me and T in front of Wentz, and one of her with all her family. And then T realized what time it was and was like, I gotta go, I have to run home and change first, then go to the train. They'd talked about getting Jimmy John's for lunch but time was so short that I couldn't join them. T would go home while her mom got the food, and then once my cousin got home, she'd likely hand over the sandwich and T would eat it in the car on the way to the train station. She would have just enough time to do all that, hopefully. But she did give me a hug and thank me for coming; of course. Cardinals flock together.