Tag: Commencement Ceremony

Loyola University Chicago 2017 Commencement

Loyola University Chicago 2017 Commencement

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No, I did not graduate, but I still have 1 more year to go. Nevertheless, it is good and exciting to see what I will experience in 12 more months! I cannot believe that my Loyola experience is 3/4 complete and that I now have to get ready for the future ahead of me. It is scary, yet it is inevitable. It is amazing to see friends post pictures of their graduation; I am so proud of them and their accomplishments. Now, it will be my turn next.

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Commencement is the same as graduation, but just a fancier version. It is similar to a high school graduation, but there are more pomp and circumstance for the hard (HARD) work students have done over the years to complete their bachelor’s degree, especially from an LUC Commencement. It is quite beautiful to see Loyola’s campus change for the event of commencement. Flowers all over campus get planted, tulips and cherry blossoms bloom right on time, flags and tables are set out on the quad, and most importantly, the Gentile Arena is transformed for the ceremony.

Gentile Arena did change its normal set up for graduation. From previous years, they had displayed their maroon and gold school colors on drapes that hung from the ceiling. Loyola’s logo hung from them and in the middle of the stage, there was a huge screen to better see speakers’ faces.

This year, they designed the stage more simpler. The backdrop was a black curtain and each school banner was hung horizontally across the stage. “Loyola University Chicago” in letters was hung above the banners. two big projector screens were on both sides of the stage.

If you did not know already, it is simply impossible to fit ALL the graduates in one event so reasonably, there are different dates and times in which graduates walk. They are categorized by the school in which they are from, for example, College of Arts and Sciences, Niehoff School of Nursing, School of Social Work, and so on. The Loyola Commencement ceremonies are not only held for undergraduates, but for graduates as well (receiving their Master’s degrees). They also host for the Loyola Academy (high school) graduations as well. To say in the least, the month of May is FULL of pomp and circumstance.

Even before graduation, there is a tradition for graduating seniors to walk out of the convocation doors of Cudahy Library. If you do not know already, freshmen traditionally walk IN the doors, marking their beginning of their time at Loyola. It makes sense to walk OUT when your graduate. It is pretty symbolic because these doors are only opened 2 times in the year– once for freshmen in August and once for seniors in May.

Again, I am excited to experience this soon, but I am sad to leave such a good school and start my life again in a new chapter. Who knows what lies ahead, but I am curious enough and prepared to face whatever comes my way.

 

 

Picking Up My Cap and Gown

Picking Up My Cap and Gown

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I have tried to write this blog in such a way that makes it accessible to incoming Freshman while showing Loyola in hindsight or from a more seasoned perspective. For the most part, I think I have done an alright job. My last post may have pushed the limit, and this one even more so.

However, this will be relevant one day to you, dear reader, unless you happen to be one of my friends or family who read this blog (Hi mom!). Contrary to popular belief I sometimes think it is beneficial to know how something ends before you start. Like a fine meal! How could you know to enjoy dessert if you ate your fill in the first 4 courses?

Leaving bad analogies behind now.

Like my Senior friends before me, and theirs before them, I picked up my cap and gown yesterday. (In case you are wondering, it came to about $58 with the tassel and everything.) All in all it was a much briefer experience than I expected. Truth be told, I had always imagined picking up graduation apparel as a long and involved process in a big loud room buzzing with every graduating senior. Instead, the whole thing took less than 10 minutes, and I spent some time making small talk. I bet I could have been in and out in 5.

The nice thing is that Loyola makes very sure you do not miss out on anything, so if you find yourself wondering when you will be able to get graduation apparel, don’t worry. Loyola will make it obvious. The emails and messages were very easy to follow. Plus, they have 3 separate days of the “grad fair” that takes place between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m, so there is plenty of time to fit it into your schedule.

Once I arrived it was just a matter of asking where the apparel table was (I skipped all the gimmicky class ring stuff) and telling them my degree so that they could find the right color tassel. Then I got in line to pay (correction: there was NO line- the event runs so long that people just come and go as they please) and chatted with the teller while she rang up my things.

Then I left.

Now my graduation gear is sitting on a shelf in my closet, unopened. It will probably only get put on once. I’ve played in the band for the commencement ceremonies and already sat through 3 years’ worth of ceremonies for all 9 of Loyola’s schools. I do not plan to attend any more than I have to this year (I could go through 3, but I’m only doing the School of Communications.)

Then I’ll have a nice dinner with the family, and “go light the world on fire” 🙂