Commencement
May. 15th, 2005 02:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
damontIf I got the schedule right, the Choir is now approximately in the middle of the eleventh go-round of the William and Mary Hymn as the imminent graduates process down the aisle at William and Mary Hall. The Commencement Exercises for the Three Hundred Twelfth Year have begun.
This one marks a milestone of sorts for me, as it's a multiple-of-five anniversary of my own graduation from W&M (give or take a few days). Graduation is really a process of multiple steps, with commencement being the last one for the seniors (I will use the term "senior[s]" to refer to all imminent graduates, including candidates for postbaccalaureate degrees, from here on.) The process really begins on the last day of classes, when seniors spend much of the day ringing the College Bell in the Wren Building. The tradition when I was there was to ring it once per year, modulo 100 -- so in April 1992 (not my graduating year) they'd have each tried ro ring it 92 times. If that is still the case, seniors now must feel cheated... or relieved... not sure which.
During exam "week", when not cramming for or taking exams, or panickedly pounding out last-minute papers, the seniors spend an awful lot of time catching up with people, making sure they have everyone's contact information (snailmail, phone, email, and nowadays expanded to include cellphone, instant messaging ID, blog ID, and so on). It doesn't really hit until classes are over, that so much of the social groups you've spent two to five years forming are now breaking up. As undergrads you got used to the fact the folks graduated and didn't come back in the fall; but the changes were more incremental because most of you DID come back. It hits harder when YOU are the one who isn't coming back. I suspect that alumni groups tend to attract the most recent graduates for this reason: when you're finding your feet in a new town and know very few people, it's nice to have one group wher you actually DO know some of them, and all of you have at least one obvious thing in common (and one which provides tons of conversational topics).
After exams, students must clean out the dorm rooms and vacate, unless they need to be present for commencement. Many students of both types head for a short vacation; in eastern Virginia the most popular destination is the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Seniors who stay behind for various reasons can often be seen meandering around the campus, saying goodbye to spots which hold personal significance.
Parents of seniors tend to start showing up on Friday evening. This is especially true for those who wish to attend the (nondenominational) religious service on Saturday morning. Choir members (such as I was) must attend; it's optional for everyone else. For the rest of Saturday there are various gatherings of specific student/alumni groups and some scholarly presentations; the Choir gives a concert in mid-afternoon, and Phi Beta Kappa holds its spring initiation just before dinner. Saturday night is reserved for the Candlelight Ceremony, where everyone crams into the Wren Yard (aka College Yard on the ancient campus, between the Wren Building, the President's House, and the Brafferton). There are some speeches, and everyone sings all FOUR verses of the Alma Mater (for some, the first time they realize that there ARE four verses).
Sunday morning is for church; the religious student organizations have typically honored their seniors on the last Sunday before exams, since time is tight on Graduation Sunday. Around 11:30 the seniors gather at the Wren Building, and start the Last Walk, through the central doors on both sides, down the Sunken Gardens, across the Crim Dell bridge, then either past the lodges or through the ravine, to emerge at the entrance to W&M Hall in time to line up for the formal commencement. Once the big ceremony is done, graduates split up and head for the dapartment receptions, where the actual diplomas are handed out. Then it's time to finish packing up the room, and maybe spend one last night partying with your friends. For on Monday morning, everything is loaded, and the new graduates say goodbye and head out to make their way in the world.
(And every three years, on Post-Commencement Monday the Choir grabs its luggage and music, and heads for Europe. As they will be doing tomorrow.)
For many, it is a measure of how much our school years affect us that years and years later we still get together with fellow alumni. This *coming* weekend (since we are not so stupid as to do this at the same time as Graduation) many Choir Alumni will be having a reunion and concert: the Third Fehr-well Fest. The concert is scheduled for 7 pm this coming Saturday night at Phi Beta Kappa Hall in Williamsburg, so folks in the area should come on out and give it a listen. I will be there, as will my mother (a fellow Choir alum). It's a mini-Homecoming, with tigher focus and fewer crowds -- more a form of spiritual renewal, I guess. But the music should be good, at least.
This one marks a milestone of sorts for me, as it's a multiple-of-five anniversary of my own graduation from W&M (give or take a few days). Graduation is really a process of multiple steps, with commencement being the last one for the seniors (I will use the term "senior[s]" to refer to all imminent graduates, including candidates for postbaccalaureate degrees, from here on.) The process really begins on the last day of classes, when seniors spend much of the day ringing the College Bell in the Wren Building. The tradition when I was there was to ring it once per year, modulo 100 -- so in April 1992 (not my graduating year) they'd have each tried ro ring it 92 times. If that is still the case, seniors now must feel cheated... or relieved... not sure which.
During exam "week", when not cramming for or taking exams, or panickedly pounding out last-minute papers, the seniors spend an awful lot of time catching up with people, making sure they have everyone's contact information (snailmail, phone, email, and nowadays expanded to include cellphone, instant messaging ID, blog ID, and so on). It doesn't really hit until classes are over, that so much of the social groups you've spent two to five years forming are now breaking up. As undergrads you got used to the fact the folks graduated and didn't come back in the fall; but the changes were more incremental because most of you DID come back. It hits harder when YOU are the one who isn't coming back. I suspect that alumni groups tend to attract the most recent graduates for this reason: when you're finding your feet in a new town and know very few people, it's nice to have one group wher you actually DO know some of them, and all of you have at least one obvious thing in common (and one which provides tons of conversational topics).
After exams, students must clean out the dorm rooms and vacate, unless they need to be present for commencement. Many students of both types head for a short vacation; in eastern Virginia the most popular destination is the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Seniors who stay behind for various reasons can often be seen meandering around the campus, saying goodbye to spots which hold personal significance.
Parents of seniors tend to start showing up on Friday evening. This is especially true for those who wish to attend the (nondenominational) religious service on Saturday morning. Choir members (such as I was) must attend; it's optional for everyone else. For the rest of Saturday there are various gatherings of specific student/alumni groups and some scholarly presentations; the Choir gives a concert in mid-afternoon, and Phi Beta Kappa holds its spring initiation just before dinner. Saturday night is reserved for the Candlelight Ceremony, where everyone crams into the Wren Yard (aka College Yard on the ancient campus, between the Wren Building, the President's House, and the Brafferton). There are some speeches, and everyone sings all FOUR verses of the Alma Mater (for some, the first time they realize that there ARE four verses).
Sunday morning is for church; the religious student organizations have typically honored their seniors on the last Sunday before exams, since time is tight on Graduation Sunday. Around 11:30 the seniors gather at the Wren Building, and start the Last Walk, through the central doors on both sides, down the Sunken Gardens, across the Crim Dell bridge, then either past the lodges or through the ravine, to emerge at the entrance to W&M Hall in time to line up for the formal commencement. Once the big ceremony is done, graduates split up and head for the dapartment receptions, where the actual diplomas are handed out. Then it's time to finish packing up the room, and maybe spend one last night partying with your friends. For on Monday morning, everything is loaded, and the new graduates say goodbye and head out to make their way in the world.
(And every three years, on Post-Commencement Monday the Choir grabs its luggage and music, and heads for Europe. As they will be doing tomorrow.)
For many, it is a measure of how much our school years affect us that years and years later we still get together with fellow alumni. This *coming* weekend (since we are not so stupid as to do this at the same time as Graduation) many Choir Alumni will be having a reunion and concert: the Third Fehr-well Fest. The concert is scheduled for 7 pm this coming Saturday night at Phi Beta Kappa Hall in Williamsburg, so folks in the area should come on out and give it a listen. I will be there, as will my mother (a fellow Choir alum). It's a mini-Homecoming, with tigher focus and fewer crowds -- more a form of spiritual renewal, I guess. But the music should be good, at least.
Re: How big is this college?
Date: 2005-05-16 02:26 pm (UTC)