Graduation Day!

The big day was finally here! Graduation! (To be quite honest, I could see this entry running short like the past few days. This time, however, it's not from a sense of urgency to get to bed with an early early schedule... it's just been a long day and I'm about to pass out.)

From a very clinical perspective, the vast majority of my day could be boiled down to two things: moving students out and having the graduation ceremony. I must say that the move out process went quite smoothly this year. I had a few students check out in the morning, a couple of students check out in the late morning, a few students check out in the late afternoon, and then rest late at night. Last year, there was definitely a larger rush in terms of students who wanted to move out right after graduation, which was kind of irritating at the time.

Even though I'm working with 15-18 year olds, I feel like I can use days like today to think about what it will be like to move into/out of an apartment. I have personally gone through the process of moving in and out of a dorm room for four years, but moving large groups of students in/out every year helps me get more data points. Based on today, here are some tips if you plan to move in the near future:

- Plan more time than what you think you need. Something will catch you by surprise. (Too many examples to list.)
- Once the boxes come out, be deliberate about only packing the stuff that should be packed. (We had a couple of students who accidentally packed school books or someone else's keys.)
- Pretend you're on a scavenger hunt to make sure you didn't miss anything. (After students thought they had everything out, I found things in top shelves, under shelves, and behind/above the main door.)
- Don't forget to clean the place too. (We do have a custodial crew to disinfect, but I had to tell many guys to vacuum and wipe down counter tops.)
- Have the right attitude. (Less of a specific example, but since I had a lot of guys to move out, I wanted everything to go smoothly. A family/student that is on time, cheerful, and cooperating definitely helps keep the process smooth.)

One thing that definitely caught me by surprise while moving students out this morning was that a family gave me a package. Gasp! Anyway, the package had seven boxes of Girl Scout cookies inside. Legitimate gasp! The same family had given me a box or two of delicious cookies throughout the year, but this was definitely a very unexpected treat.

The graduation ceremony went well. I helped get the students ready beforehand, but my role is very small for the actual ceremony. This was especially true this year since we just had one RC sing the national anthem. (In years past, I had been part of a student choir/band during graduation.) I did feel a little under-dressed with only my Bachelor's robe while standing next to staff/faculty with Masters and Doctorate apparel. Then again, my orange tassel does stand out.

So, I have an orange tassel. For those of you not just attending a graduation ceremony today, the tassels can indicate the field of study, at least at the Bachelor level. Well, since I completed a program within the Institute of Technology, which was an engineering school, I got an orange tassel (symbolizing an engineering field) for my undergrad graduation. I've worn it to every Academy graduation and each year, students do ask about the meaning. There is a page in our graduation program about tassels/regalia and this year, I was able to convince the Dean to include orange to the list of commonly seen colors. Score!

Our building technically closed at 7pm, although at that point, I still had seven guys since they were all staying the night for a 3am airport shuttle. All of them are living out of state (all but one are international students), so part of the night was cramming my lounge full with boxes to store for the summer. Of course, I did also go through each room as the students had their stuff out, collected their keys, and had them complete their final paperwork.

I don't think it's fully sunk in yet that all the students moved out and that half of them graduated. I'll probably have that shock when I leave for church tomorrow and see the empty yellow hallway, only occupied by some clutter left behind from the last-minute shenanigans.

Today's holiday was Say Something Nice Day, and saying goodbye to the students was the perfect platform. There are students that I have seen grow throughout the two years that I am truly saddened to see go. For my guys who graduated, I made sure to tell them and their parents that I was happy to see them succeed and wanted to hear where life took them next. There was one guy that I've worked with quite a bit these past two years. We had just completed all the paperwork and we were saying our goodbyes. He was starting to walk away and I said "I'm proud of you". At that moment, he stopped and walked back over to me to give me a hug. It was a very simple moment, but a powerful one as well.

There are some students that I have grown closer to that aren't on my wing and I tried to say my proper goodbyes to them as well. I made sure to get pictures with students and talked to some of the different parents. Now that the students have graduated, I can add them on Facebook, including some of the friend requests that students made last August. As I mentioned before, a portion of the international students were here later for an early-morning airport shuttle. For the past two years, I had worked on the cultural transition program for the int'l students, so I was one of the first staff members to really be a part of those students' lives at the Academy. You could argue that it was sadder to see them leave because they are going back to Korea/China for the summer and most of them are going to college outside of Missouri next year. We're talking California and Georgia, so for some students, tonight was the last time I'll see them. *pause* It feels to just end the sentence like that, even though that it's technically valid.

Like I said before, I don't think it's sunk in that the Seekers graduated and the building is empty. For the moment, I'm attributing the lack of ... sink ... to it being a long day, so it's off to bed I go.

Here's to the first day of summer! DFTBA