Monday, March 26, 2007 Echaves: Moments in time By Lelani P. Echaves Thinking Aloud
TWO days in a row last week, I attended graduation rites.
One as guest during the college and masteral graduation rites at the Cebu State College of Science and Technology (CSCST) - Moalboal Campus. The other as commencement speaker for graduating high school and elementary students of the University of Cebu (UC).
My high school and college graduation happened so long ago that I don’t have too many memories. But I remember feeling great and grown up in my gala uniform during high school graduation. While I felt proud in my pleated blue and white Theresian uniform for daily classes, the gala uniform was really something we looked forward to. We wore this for special occasions, all in white from blouse to skirt to shoes, with the midnight blue ribbon and school pin as accents.
I remember distinctly, too, the solemnity of the rites. Our high school batch was small enough to be accommodated in the school chapel, and so our graduation rites were held within the Holy Mass itself. The diplomas, all printed and bearing our complete names, as well as the awardees’ medals, were items offered and blessed during the offertory, and the Eucharistic celebrant himself attended our graduation rites.
Already during my time, only the graduating students were allowed to go onstage to receive their diplomas. Parents had numbered seats, and no one crisscrossed or stayed too long on stage. To prevent wannabe paparazzis, a specified place was designated for photographers, and they could take pictures only after the end of the rites. To capture the awardees’ one moment in time, only the school’s accredited photographer was allowed. He stayed right at the foot of the stage, and never once stood up to block the view of the audience.
To accord every graduate her due respect, the nuns instructed us during rehearsals to sustain the same volume and quality of applause for each student going onstage. No one received a longer or more thunderous applause; it would’ve been a breach in civility and decorum.
Amid complaints about rowdy behavior nowadays during graduation rites in some schools, I was happy to note that rudeness was a no-no at the CSCST and UC graduation rites. This, despite the white or black academic gowns worn, or the scorching summer heat penetrating the high roofs.
Not one stood up while the commencement speaker or the program was on. No one talked on his cell phone, or showed restlessness. All graduates went onstage, their parents or relatives by their side. As the Moalboal parents came up, I felt this huge lump in my throat. Mother’s blouse was newly bought, and her slip-ons still bore the price tag. Father was in his Sunday best, too. As I congratulated them, I felt their hands cold and trembling, and while they managed a smile, I could see the nervous tics on their cheeks.
Happiness presents itself in strange ways.
A chapter in their children’s lives had concluded. With more work, sacrifices here, loans there and God’s help everywhere, they could heed another chapter’s beckoning.
