Before the job situation set in though, I spent some time enjoying the moment. I never liked graduation ceremonies and things like that because I didn't really want to celebrate the fact that I wouldn't see my friends anymore...but it was nice to be proud of myself for something I accomplished and welcome the exciting changes in life that would come soon...or in this case, not come at all.
We had to buy the stupid graduation gowns, and it was surreal to actually put it on and GO...to GRADUATION. After three years. Done. Crazy. Here's a few pictures of us in the parking garage, and in line, waiting to process in...
And once we got in. The School of Art and Architecture got to sit near the front, so that was nice. Best part is my seat ended up being on the aisle, in the middle, so I had a good view of the stage.
And I had a good view of my family who all got there early enough to get seats close to the stage...they yelled for me when my name was announced, I was proud of them for that ;) Uncle Glenn is standing up taking a picture of me, with Bobby by him and then Jenny, Tiffany, my mom, Chris, and my dad all down the row. Nice to have some support.
The ceremony went by fast, even though it was full of the usual pomp and circumstance, and highfalutin garbage like commencement speaker and valedictory address and all that stuff. But I tried to just sit and enjoy the moment, take it in, enjoy the red carpet. Though I did spend quite a bit of it texting my brothers and Tiffany back and forth, which was hilarious, since I could see them across the arena.
It was also weird going up and getting hooded, but kinda cool, and an honor to have a couple of professors there to do it and shake my hand and give me my diploma- made it more personal, since it was a huge graduation ceremony. Again- just weird that I was actually there and it was actually happening, and that it'd be over soon, especially since I knew my friends were moving away.
One friend in particular, Jim, was moving back to MN with his wife Jasmine. They'd been good friends for Tiffany and I and other classmates to hang out with, but Jasmine was from the Twin Cities and they decided to go up there where they could afford a house with a yard for their dog :) So I knew I wouldn't be seeing him much anymore!
Me and Jim.
I took a couple more photos the next day in my cap n gown, for fun, and for the cake I designed for my graduation party the following weekend... I really did have this on top of my cap though, during the ceremony, and when the camera showed me up on the big projector screen, I made sure to take off my hat and point to the sign and smile :) Got a few chuckles.
The following weekend I had a big graduation party at my parents' house, for family, high school friends, college friends, chicago friends, grad school friends. I had representatives of all those groups come to the party! It was great. And I decided to set up all my models and presentations from my various Studio Design finals, so people could see all the work I'd done. And I put a slideshow of my photos from Europe on the big tv, probably the best part, so people could see all the travels I'd done and great pictures I'd taken. Probably like 60 people came to the party, pretty crazy! Thanks to my parents who let me host it there and did a lot of work preparing the house and food for everyone- especially since I couldn't help them much because I was at a wedding reception in Chicago the night before!
Finally, the last bit of celebrating graduation that we did was a trip to Cedar Point. I planned it to make sure Chris and Tiffany could go, and us grad school people stayed at one guy Dave's parents' house near Sandusky, out on a farm in rural Ohio. The bummer part is that it rained bloody murder, and the rides got shut down, and we left halfway through the day. And there were no refunds. Dammit. At least we got back to South Bend earlier...and we got to dry out and eat some food at Dave's before we left, which was nice.
After graduation stuff was over, it was time to start a new adventure...REAL LIFE. And before Tiffany left, we had also decided to really for sure end things, go our separate ways, try and meet other people, etc., something we'd be discussing since she came to visit in Italy, and since I was in Austin in March, and basically that whole semester on and off. I was sure of the decision by the time we made it, and though she was less sure than me, I think time has told that we did the right thing. Though I wish I could meet someone else now...
The odd irony of the whole thing is that she moved to Chicago the same week I started grad school, and then left to go home to Austin, after we agreed to really break up, the same week I graduated school. 3 years of school, 3 years of relationship. Weird. Now I'm looking for a job AND a girlfriend together! Think I can find them in the same place?
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