GUEST COLUMNIST: A reflection on Commencement

At the end of the classic 1980s comedy Back To School, Rodney Dangerfield delivers a commencement address full of amazing profundity and brevity: "In life, you better look out for number one -- and make sure you don't step in any number two!" Still, Back to School embellishes and satirizes the idea of a commencement. For a long time I thought all ceremonies were as funny, simple and stress-free as the movie portrayed them. My own high school graduation dispelled these myths. Through my difficulties preparing a speech, my high school graduation taught me that anxieties could easily arise out a seemingly straightforward exercise. Eager to compare Penn's ceremony with my high school graduation, I attended my first Penn Commencement last week. At Franklin Field, two things immediately blew me away: the majestic and meticulous organization of the event and the large, enthusiastic crowd. The orderly layout of the field and the large Penn banners caught my attention. Family and friends filled the stadium, shouting and waving in the direction of the field -- all hoping in vain to catch the attention of their special graduate. The genuine absurdity of this gesture emphasized how meaningful the occasion was in the eyes of many. Not everything about the ceremony was perfect. Robert Rubin spoke cogently but without particular inspiration. However, the presentation of each school was exciting and the graduates added spice throwing around beachballs and an inflatable banana. And even though the constant evocation of Ben Franklin became tiresome, I derived a sense of history and context from the ritual. Indeed, the event's greatest charm lay in the vestiges. Members of the crowd dressed in their Sunday best -- a remnant of bygone days when all Ivy League men wore blazers and women wore dresses. And the colors, stripes and tassels of the caps and gowns retained century-old meanings. As I left Franklin Field, the totality of the Commencement experience hit me. This is it for these guys and next year it'll be my turn. But to many seniors, Commencement itself is a formality that only family and friends will remember. For them, other Senior Week events -- Walnut Walk, the block party on Sunday night, the last precious hours spent with close friends -- will be the true memories that survive. These events create a carefree atmosphere where graduates renew friendships and re-tell stories from the past four years. This experience will live further in people's minds than the words of any commencement speaker -- be it Robert Rubin or Thornton Mellon. So is Commencement devoid of any true meaning? I don't think so. One can argue that the ceremony is formulaic and exaggerated. But people want to remember their graduation ceremony as epic, and frankly, after four years of toil, students deserve a send-off full of pageantry. Together, the experiences of Senior Week and Commencement create the nostalgic, idealized memories of college. I look forward to participating in Commencement and Senior Week next year. Just not right now. I still feel I have much to accomplish here and much to figure out about myself and my future. But for just one glorious moment, I started counting the days until I could march amongst thousands of peers, face the screaming crowd, look desperately for my family in the stands, throw my cap up in the air and call myself not a senior, but a Penn graduate.

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