University of Dayton - MyLife

Graduation Weekend

It's over. College is over. I can't lie, I'm sad. Last weekend was a beautiful weekend. My parents, two brothers and best friend, Babs, all came to Dayton. Three of my mother's sisters also made the trip from various destinations around the East Coast. I am so lucky to have such a supportive family.

On Friday night, my parents and I attended the School of Education and Allied Professions graduation reception. This cocktail party held in the KU Ballroom gave all students the opportunity to introduce their parents to their professors and peers. Following the appetizers was a short program where honors keys were distributed and a few awards were given to both faculty and students. I was fortunate enough to have received an award for completing undergraduate research. Following the reception, my parents and I met up with my brothers and Babs for dinner at the Dublin Pub. It was the perfect destination for our Irish blood. Babs was lucky enough to be introduced to Tim's Bar following dinner, but I spared my parents the experience.

Saturday was another busy day. In the morning, the Honors Program held a brunch for students graduating from the program and their families. This was another opportunity to introduce my family to some of the faculty members that have made a great impact on my education. Honors pins were distributed and a class picture was taken. One of the nicest parts of the morning was Dr. Curran, the University President, coming and speaking to the class and our families. He stuck around after the picture and talked to individual students. I cannot imagine that many other university presidents spend time with individual students on graduation weekend. Dr. Curran went as far as offering me his personal resources for learning Korean and mentioned that he has many contacts in Korea if I ever needed anything. This comment assured me that I will always be connected as a UD flyer, even as an alumni living on the other side of the world.

Following the brunch, it was time to set up for our party. My roommates and I rented a tent and ordered food for a small celebration with our families Saturday night. My mother from Dayton, Gladys, gave us christmas lights to hang around the tent. We put on table clothes, iced the drinks and prepared the food. As soon as we returned for mass we would be ready to party.

My aunts arrived shortly before mass and we all headed over to the arena. In typical fashion, I was wrong about what time mass was to start and we were there super early. At least we got a good seat. Mass was beautiful, but it was also the first moment that I started to realize that this was it. We headed back to Kiefaber and began to enjoy our last night of partying in our little blue house.

All of my roommates families arrived and we enjoyed all of the company as we ate and played corn hole among other games. My Best Buddy, Fatima, and her mother, Gladys, arrived with the cake. Bless Fatima's heart for wishing Faith, Coryn and I happy birthday because she did not understand that we were graduating. We cut the cake and took a roommate picture. Fatima was obviously in the picture because she has been like another roommate all year. We cried a little and I opened my first bottle of champagne. Before I knew it, the night was over and we were graduating in the morning. Thank you for taking so many pictures Dad!!

May 13, 2009 10:13 AM Permalink