Monday, March 10, 2008 Baumgart: It's The Month By Elisabeth Baumgart inkblots
IF months have rub-on scents, then March will definitely smell of freshly ironed togas and crisp diplomas. It is a scent that is far better that any perfume from Chanel.
And to every graduating student, there is nothing more sweet smelling than diplomas fresh from the printers and togas that are older than most of us.
To every graduating student, March is “The Month”, a title that without a doubt, deserves to be capitalized. And of course, “The Month” has the “The Big Day.” For every harassed college student, Graduation Day (otherwise known as my “Big Day”) is perhaps the single most anticipated day of their lives. It’s the day when they can finally kiss all slave drivers, err, professors goodbye, and oftentimes bothersome school rules. It means there will be no more surprise tests, stressful class projects, even more stressful thesis work (which never really ends!), mountains of reports to file and researches to, uh, research.
Finally, no more!
Or, perhaps, just momentarily “no more” if one desires to pursue further studies after a few months of resting (falling into a coma) or after a couple of years working (hopefully not as a professional bum).
On a deeper and extremely reflective side of things, Graduation Day (again, it only seems right to capitalize it) for every college student means finally crossing the finish line of the educational race and successfully entering the proverbial “real world.”
On one hand, it’s something that every student is eagerly looking forward to, but on the other, it could also be one of the most frightening days of their lives.
The moment one receives the most revered diploma and places the tassel on the right side of one’s graduation cap, it inevitably means that everything is done. One is finally and officially part of the “real world”, ready to work and ultimately, ready to set out into the world on their own.
And therein lies the wonders of Graduation Day. Graduating does not mean the end of learning, but instead, it opens up a whole new world of education and learning. It opens up the unknown–it opens up the world.
On a personal note, my friends and I are extremely excited about graduating, and yet, scared out of our wits. With only a few days left before the Big Day, we have broken down, cried hysterically and worried about what would lie ahead for all of us.
And despite the fear and anxieties, the thrill of finally wearing the sweet smelling black toga is overpowering.
And with that sweet smelling toga and crisp new diploma come the possibilities of finally fulfilling great dreams.
