Athol got his final results on Thursday so he has passed all his eight courses and will be graduating at Harvard on Thursday 30 May 2013. What an amazing accomplishment! I am so proud of him.
There has been so many Commencement events, actually there has been something every day since Tuesday - sometimes 2 or 3 events a day! So it's more of a Commencement 1.5 weeks :)
There is Class Day, the Mason Certificate Ceremony, presentations by the guest speakers, the actual Graduation Day, the Bon Voyage Buffet, Champagne events, lunches, dinners, last parties, etc. We even had to postpone our trip to Washington DC. Back at Wits, I remember that Graduation was just a few hours and there were definately no other evenets on other days.
On Tuesday, the inaugural HKS book of poetry was launched. This was Athol's initiaive. During the year, he got classmates to write a poem about a better world. The event was amazing, some read their poem and other sand or played music. One classmate even did 5 paintings. The guest speaker was Prof. Marshall Gantz, a legend at Harvard.
Athol reciting "All I Have"
Guest speaker: Prof. M. Ganz
From Monday, graduates can go collect their gowns and caps. They get to use them for a couple of days, to take photos, etc. Not like at Wits where you go pick up your gown on the day of your Graduation and then you must return it immediately afterwards.
Graduation is a big thing here, it happens rather quick after exams. Athol's last paper was due on 9 May. Families of graduates from around the world will all be coming for this event. Gradution Day begins at 6:45am with class photos!
Security will also be strict, due to the recent Boston Marathon bombings.
Oprah Winfrey will be the guest speaker on the day.
Looking forward to the coming week of events!
On Monday 28 May is Memorial Day, which is a public holiday here in the USA. It is always on the last Monday of May. Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the US Armed Forces http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day
3 weeks left in the USA
These last 3 weeks are going to fly by, we have so much still to do including packing up and selling off all household items, our tip to Washington DC 5-8 June and say our goodbyes to the wonderful people that we've met here.
The last few days have been rainy and overcast. This week the US has been hit by numerous tornados in the mid west. The one in Oklahoma was devastating, homes were literally flattened... very sad.
The trees and flowers are in full bloom which is really beautiful. There are lots of pollen and petals flying around, even the weather reports sometimes give a 'Pollen Alert'. A nightmare for people with asthma or hay fever.
Let's keep our fingers crossed that the weather is nice for Graduation Day :)
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