At Coe, graduation is a full weekend event. I was lucky enough to have my dad, grandparents, aunt, brother, and sister attend the weekend festivities. On Saturday, the day began early with Honors Convocation. I formally received the Charles Cannon award as the distinguished English major, as well as the Delta Eta Book award for my hard work both in and out of the classroom.
The weather was great on Saturday and it was nice to casually walk around campus, running into many of my friends. I showed off the caf cuisine to the family before we headed to the library for the Phi Beta Kappa initiation ceremony. As soon as I walked in, I saw my good friend Ashley, who had arrived earlier in the day for graduation. Ashley and I are English major buddies and we also roomed together in NYC. She graduated in December and moved out to New York. I hadn't seen her since December so needless to say, we were thrilled to be reunited. The initiation ceremony was very nice, complete with signing the Phi Beta Kappa member book and learning a secret handshake. After the ceremony, my family and Heidi's family got to chat and take photos. Haley joined the bunch and bam! it was like we were back in freshman year. It was so good to see both of them and celebrate graduation together.
The day didn't stop there. The next event was Baccalaureate. We donned our robes and motorboards and lined up behind Sinclair. It was the first moment where it really felt like, yeah we're graduating. Baccalaureate itself was very nice. Our speaker was Reverend Wayne Meisel. He was an excellent speaker along with the student speakers. They all talked about all the potential our futures have and all the good memories we have from our time at Coe.
Then the day gets a little crazier. My dad, brother, aunt, and I hopped in a car bound for Mt. Horeb. My younger sister, Hannah, was on the junior prom court. The prom just so happened to be graduation weekend (because that's how my life works, everything happens at once). We got back just in time to watch court walk and to see my sister crowned the prom queen! I was one proud sister.
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| The Queen! |
Post-prom pictures, we hopped back in the car and went back to Coe. It was totally worth it.
The next morning, it was graduation. It was surreal to put on my robe and head to the Victory Bell. As I stood in line, waiting to ring it for the second time, I kept thinking about my past four years at Coe. I thought of all the friends I made, the mentors I gained, the things I learned, the papers I wrote, and the experiences I had. It was overwhelming, so many good memories contained on and off campus but all related to my time at Coe. When it was my turn to ring the bell, I stepped up, got into a stance and rang it with as much gusto as I did four years earlier. I rang the bell with a smile on my face knowing that this end was the start of a new beginning.
From there, we walked to our seats on the library quad (and I'm so thankful it didn't rain during our ceremony). When the Dean read my name and I walked across the stage, the same sorts of feelings I had at the bell rushed through me. On stage, there is a large duct tape arrow directing you towards President McInally. I felt all my Coe memories being directed towards the President. Here I was, finally accepting my diploma and the best part was, I helped picked the man I was shaking hands with. The moment lasted only a few seconds, but it was one of the proudest moments of my life. I had a huge grin across my face.
I did it.
After the ceremony, we got about 20 minutes of photos before the rain started. Here's a sample of some of the photos, more to come!
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| English majors unite! |
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| Angela and I |
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| Hayleigh, Hailley, and Kyle |
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| Heyo Wisconsinites! |
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| Ha(il)leys |
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| Ryan and I |
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| Alison P. and I |
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| Ariana and I |
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| Hailley and Heidi, roommates for three years! :) |
While I didn't have to move out because of my May Term, it was tough to see many of my friends move out. Millie especially. But, as everyone kept telling us, this wasn't the last time we were going to see each other.
What a weekend, right? Hard to see my undergraduate time at Coe come to a close, but so glad I could celebrate it with my family and closest friends.
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