Northwestern Commencement 2010

On Thursday, I drove to Evanston for Northwestern's Commencement. There were ceremonies on Friday and Saturday. I took my parents with me, because I felt that they should be part of the celebration.

Before the main ceremony, the School of Continuing Studies (SCS) held a reception that we attended. As a distance learning student, I had not actually met many of my classmates. It was nice to finally meet some of them. I would recognize a voice in the crowd and walk over and introduce myself. I told the associate dean that I still thought that they might come to their senses and pull my diploma. He thought that was funny.

The main ceremony was on Friday at 6pm. At approximately 4:30pm, a thunderstorm hit the city, and we were drenched while we were on our way to the stadium. The weather cleared, and they were able to hold the ceremony outside, as scheduled. It was quite a sight. I was glad that I went. Mike Wilbon from ESPN and ABC (and a Northwestern Alum) gave the commencement address.

We went and had a wonderful dinner at Morton's following the ceremony. Another thunderstorm hit while we were having dinner, and we drove back to the hotel through downed power lines and traffic signals that were not functioning.

The ceremony for SCS was on Saturday afternoon at the Millar Chapel. It was hot. I was hooded and received my diploma. The drive back to Ann Arbor took longer than I expected, and I did not make it home until after 9pm. My brother Rob and Leslie were dog sitting for me, and we had steaks after I got home.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.