It’s that time of year again, when hope springs eternal, smiles of pride break out, tears of victory are shed. It’s graduation time. Already our mailboxes are finding relief from the steady stream of junk mail and monthly bills. Mixed in are graduation announcements from neighbors, young and old, and relatives near and far. Milestones reached, at last.
No time to be cynical. Well, maybe not.
As I was opening a college graduation announcement one day, I was struck by something a student told me a few years ago when I called to acknowledge receipt of her invitation.
“Oh,” the prospective graduate said, “I’m not really graduating. I’m just marching. I’ve got a few more hours to go before I really graduate.” Pardon me? You are donning that cap and gown, sitting through pomp and circumstance, listening to an inspiring graduation speech, and you aren’t really graduating?
It was not that long ago “candidates for graduation” were pulled out of the graduation line for any number of reasons: missed tuition payments, plenty of credits but not the right ones to graduate, outstanding library books, unpaid parking tickets. Many strutters in cap and gown were trembling inside for fear of feeling that invisible hook around their necks, yanking them out of line just as they were about to step across the stage, faces beaming.
Now, in this era of zero tolerance for anything, tightened academic standards and relentless testing, we’ve loosened rules on the one college process we all thought we understood. We’re in a virtual graduation mode.
