For one thing, UM does three ceremonies to keep the 2,000 or so graduates separate and to make sure that there is enough room in the venue. I was lucky enough to have the best ceremony time, ending up with the 1:00pm graduation which required me to be there by noon. This was incredibly weird to me, for the morning of graduation I watched one of my fellow roommates graduate in her 8:30am ceremony via the university's live stream from the comfort of my bed in my apartment in addition to painting my nails and eating breakfast. When it came time to actually go to graduation, I met up with a friend in my department and we walked together over to the graduate holding room next to the venue.
The whole "holding room" concept was interesting. In the room adjacent to the actual venue, graduates were instructed to find their respective school and sit wherever they wanted in the area of reserved chairs. Of course, none of us actually did just that. Rather, we marked our chairs with our caps or name pronunciation cards and walked around taking pictures with each other. It was fun running into new and old friends. Just before actually lining up for the ceremony, the university president came in to say a few words and the grand marshals lined us up.
Walking into the actual venue was quite overwhelming. Graduation was held in the arena where our basketball team plays, and we actually got to walk in on the same path that the team takes before and after games. The ceremony itself was formal and smooth, with the traditional variety of speakers (student, alumni, distinguished guest, etc.), conferral of degrees, and so on. What I found interesting were two different things; one, we did not receive our actual diplomas at graduation. Rather, we received our official diploma holder with a note from the university president and the understanding that the diploma would be mailed to us in the weeks following graduation. Two, we did not actually shake the hand of the president. Rather, we went on stage as our names were called and posed for a picture with him before shaking the hands of the deans and department heads from our respective schools. The ceremony concluded with the traditional singing of the alma mater and the annual athletic event 'Canes spellout. Following graduation, we met our families outside the venue and headed for our respective school's reception. On our way to the reception, we stopped along the way at some of my favorite campus spots for pictures.
It is customary at UM to decorate the mortar board of your graduation cap for pictures and (an added bonus) so that your parents can see you during the ceremony from behind. I decorated mine with my favorite line from our alma mater and gave each corner a different theme; my sorority, my monogram, my home state, and where I am moving after graduation. Also, instead of the traditional school-colored tassel (blue for school of education) for my cap, I decided to purchase the celebratory orange and green tassel beforehand along with a variety of senior goodies. Overall, I loved the cap I created and plan to frame it for my apartment next year.
We ended the day with dinner at one of Miami's most popular restaurants (and one of my new favorites), The Rusty Pelican. Just off the Rickenbacker Causeway leading into Key Biscayne, TRP has the most stunning view of Brickell and downtown Miami. We had an amazing view of the sunset over the city which led into an even more gorgeous Miami skyline. The view could not be trumped, however, by the restaurant's delicious food. I enjoyed shrimp tempura with pink sticky rice, and we all enjoyed the Chocolate Sabotage dessert platter with a variety of chocolate treats. Definitely a great way to end the day.
Overall, graduation was definitely an overwhelming but special day. I am so thankful to have been able to celebrate my UM experience alongside several members of my family in the place that has been home for so long. Onto the next adventure we go...
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