Last Thursday was a whirlwind. The whole day absolutely flew by and I was overwhelmed with how many people went out of their way to congratulate me. I don’t have a whole lot to add on about what it feels like to be graduating after my first post, but this one will just be a recap of the day.
I was lucky that my ceremony was in the afternoon, because right off the bat I was running late (not out of the ordinary for me..). I started off by going to Blush Nail Bar in Woodstock, GA with my mom where I treated her to a pedicure for my parents' anniversary. My friend Colleen and I went here for manicures before the wedding in Destin, and I absolutely loved this place. The owners are so friendly and helpful, you can tell that they really love what they do. And the decorative touches make the salon so unique and modern.
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The prices are very reasonable and the staff are so warm and welcoming. I’ve been to plenty of nail salons but this was the first where I felt more like a friend rather than a customer. I would highly recommend it! I decided to go bold and get a bright red manicure (Red Hot Chili Peppers red, to be exact!). My mom picked out a beautiful peachy pink for her toes that I absolutely loved too. After the nail bar, we were back on track with time. The manicurist knew we were in a hurry and helped us get in and out quickly, which was so appreciated!
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My dad picked up a quick lunch that I had time to eat in the car on the way to campus (Chick-Fil-A for the win!). All of the graduates checked in and met in the Student Center. I was surprised at how many people I knew in my graduating class. It was nice to catch up and share the excitement of the day with them.
Posted by Kennesaw State University on Friday, May 15, 2015
I got a lot of compliments on my mortar board! KSU's photographer even caught a great shot of it, check it out on the right! I’m so happy with how it came out (even though I realized when I put it on that I decorated it backwards…). We were given the rundown of the ceremony before we lined up to walk to the Convocation Center. We walked out through the bookstore where a tunnel of cheering people gave us a send off, which was a total surprise, but pretty awesome!
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The ceremony itself I don’t even remember much of because it happened so fast. I went to my friend Lindsey’s commencement last summer and the president, Dr. Papp, used the same speech that I’m sure he’s used at every commencement for the past few years. He asked us to stand if we had been involved in an internship, worked throughout college or had a significant other, so that the audience could better get to know the graduating class. It was a good way to break the ice and also appreciate how busy people can be while still graduating from college.
We had a great keynote speaker, Ralph Rascati. His main point was that college is all about the A’s, but life is all about the B’s. He advised us to be productive, be kind, be creative and be optimistic. His speech resonated with me and I hope I’ll be able to remember it far into my life. Then they started calling out names of my classmates. It felt special to be able to celebrate that day with so many others whom I have worked on group projects, studied for tests, or shared student media’s offices with. Before I knew it, it was my time to walk across the stage. All I could really focus on was keeping my cap from sliding off any further.
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I thanked all of the important people on stage as I shook their hands, and many of them complimented the wings on my mortar board. One even asked me to turn around and show the whole thing to him. A lot of my family were able to watch my ceremony live, because KSU broadcasts it online. My brother and his fiancee took a video as my name was called, so I decided to include it in this post. Check it out!
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After the ceremony, I met up with my parents and Vinnie for photos (gallery below!). True to my word, Vinnie let me blast “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper as we left campus to go to dinner. Since it was a Thursday (meaning it was Pint Night!), and we had two celebrations that night, it only made sense for us to go to our favorite place, T.MAC. We met up with Vinnie’s parents and had a really fun time! I was happy we were finally able to get our parents together, I just wish we had gotten a picture! That day was also my parents 32nd anniversary, and I was really happy to be able to spend the whole day with them.
It really was a great day. Below are a few more posts from Thursday that really sum up how lucky I am to not only graduate from college, but also have so many people who helped me get there. I can't wait to figure out what happens next!
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