The Diploma
I was exhausted from working my two jobs over the weekend and was
not looking forward to the graduation ceremony. I have been to many
graduations and I know how boring they are for most people. To top
everything off, my wife and I had our two kids under the age of
three with us. Both of the kids were squirming and whining, and I
knew it was going to be a long afternoon. Our sole comic relief came
when my three-year-old patted and rubbed the head of a bald man we
did not know in front of us. As the ceremony dragged on I kept
thinking of all the places I would rather be, and made up my mind
that I wasn't going to enjoy myself.
It was your ordinary graduation ceremony: a hot, sweaty auditorium
filled with people fanning themselves with their programs, listening
to speech upon boring speech, and the endless calling of names as
each matriculator walked across the stage to grab this piece of
paper that symbolized his or her academic accomplishment. It was
getting harder and harder to pay attention. Just as my attitude
started to go sour, they began calling out the graduate's names. The
classmates formed a single file line and made their way up towards
the podium.
That's when I caught my first close-up glimpse of Kim. She looked up
at us and was trying in vain to hold back the tears. She was not
doing a good job of it. Believe me, holding back emotions is not
something that Kim does very well. There she was, standing in line,
about to receive her diploma, and she was probably thinking about a
number of things. Maybe her dad who passed away a few years ago and
didn't get to see her reach her goal, or her grandmother, who also
passed away recently, and who had always wanted to attend college,
but her family didn't have the money...
For me it was like something from a movie. You know, the dramatic
slow motion scene where all the crowd noise grows quiet, and the
camera slowly moves up on her face as the tears begin to fall. She
was a good distance away from us, but to me it was as if she were
standing in front of me. That simple act of looking up at those
loved ones who had come to watch her graduate, and gently rubbing
the tears of joy, accomplishment, and pride out of her eyes really
got through to me. The selfishness in me melted away, and I
realized why I was there and not somewhere else.
"KIMBERLY ANNE CONWAY, GRADUATING MAGNA CUM LAUDE," came booming
over the auditorium's sound system, and she walked gracefully across
the huge stage and received this piece of paper that symbolized so
many things to her. Then just before she walked off the stage, she
turned around towards those who had come to share the day with her,
and, with the brightest smile on her face, waved and grinned at us
like a little girl getting on the school bus for the first time.
I glanced at my wife, and saw the tear-drops roll gently down as the
love she had for her sister manifested itself on her face.
You see, Kim is not your ordinary college graduate. She is thirty-
eight years old, and has stuck with her goal of graduating from
college for the past twenty years. It's not like she is going to
look back on that part of her life, sigh, and say, "College... the
best twenty years of my life!"
She attended college while working full time, and she studied
extremely hard, especially the past couple of years as she pushed
toward her goal of a college degree. Many times she felt like
quitting, and, if it weren't for her support group of other
nontraditional students that cared for her, she would have given up
on her goal. Many times she would call one of the other students she
knew and tell them she wanted to quit, and would be talked out of
it. Then a while later this student would call her and say she
wanted to quit and Kim would talk her out of it... (Luckily, they
both didn't want to quit at the same time!)
I have the utmost respect for Kim. It takes a special person to
stick with a goal as long as she has. I attended college for three
years when I got out of high school, but I stopped when I wasn't
sure what I wanted to do with my life. Many times I have looked back
and wished that I had stuck with it and gone on to be a high school
teacher. If for no other reason, I wish I had finished something
that I had started.
I know what it feels like to walk out of that last final exam of the
semester, breathe in the fresh air just outside the doors of the
university, and feel like the weight of the world has been lifted
off your shoulders for at least a little while. I can't even begin
to imagine what it felt like for Kim after so many years...
I love you, Kim, and I want you to know that I admire you for that
symbolic piece of paper that will soon adorn a wall in your house.
In the words of Caleb, my three-year-old: "HAPPY GRADULATION, AUNT KIMMY!"
[ By: Michael T. Powers, © 2000 (HeartTouchers@aol.com) -- from (the-inspired-buffalo@yahoogroups.com) ]
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