The Girl Graduates!

Longtime readers have been privy to periodic updates about The Girl. One of my first posts ever, back in 2004, announced her birth. This one announces her college graduation.

Like all Gaul, her graduation is divided into three parts. On Monday, the English Department hosted a ceremony giving departmental awards. That ceremony was indoors, brief, well-thought-out and lovely. Apparently it was the first time they did it; my kudos to the department for doing it right. She picked up a pair of awards, including one for her thesis. That was where she got her honors cord to wear with her regalia.

On Tuesday, the Arts and Humanities College hosted its graduation in the basketball arena. I’m told that this was the first year for that, too. It went smoothly—again, indoors—with a particularly terrific speech from the YA writer Jason Reynolds. The grads were in full regalia, so we made sure to get plenty of photos. Naturally, there were rumors of skulduggery: The video montage of student speakers in lieu of live student speakers was—we were told—intended to prevent any sort of political statements. I was struck by the repeated warnings that any “expressive activities” were only to be engaged in outdoors, far from where anyone would see them. Whether the rumors are correct as to intention, I don’t know, but they were certainly correct in impact.

The entire university graduation was scheduled for Wednesday evening in the football stadium, but it got postponed due to a misplaced forecast of nasty weather. That threw our travel plans into a bit of chaos, but so it goes. I’ll admit being annoyed that the full graduation was outdoors at all; this time of year, Maryland is either hotter than the surface of the sun, or soaked. Neither is especially conducive to graduation. Yet here we are.

At the Arts and Humanities ceremony, TG was resplendent in her gown and honors cord. We took plenty of pictures, even capturing (distant) video of the moment her name was called and she walked across the stage. Afterward she was a good sport about posing for pics with everyone, which I know isn’t her favorite activity.

She’s our youngest, so this is the end of an era for us. We won’t miss the out-of-state tuition payments, and we’re proud that we were able to get both kids through four years of college without them having student loans to pay back. That takes some doing.

I couldn’t help but feel bad for TG, though. I remember the feeling at my doctoral graduation as the arena emptied out and I stood there wondering what was next. I didn’t have a job lined up, or even a discernible prospect of one. After (cough) years of education, scrimping and saving and living like a church mouse, graduating into a void felt awful. It felt vertiginous, like the moment right before falling off a cliff.

She’s facing something similar now. She has sent out literally hundreds of applications but hasn’t had a single interview. And that’s with multiple internships, a series of part-time jobs and a GPA over 3.9. She worked hard and played by the rules, and she’s standing where I stood back on that June day in 1997. It’s a tough spot. Technology now being what it is, she actually received a rejection email during the ceremony, which I thought was a bit on the nose.

I found something a few months after graduation, parlaying an adjunct gig into a full-time teaching position and a subsequent turn to administration. It was the ’90s, so such a thing was still possible. I don’t know what her break will be or when it will happen, but I have to believe it will come soon. She’s too darn smart and talented for someone not to notice.

In the meantime, though, there’s achievement to celebrate and a milestone to note. Congrats, TG! It’s an honor and a thrill to see you grow into yourself.