Taryn's Adventures: Graduation Day at Harvard!

Graduation Day

Finally the big day had arrived - Graduation Day! or Commencement Day as the Americans call it :)

Athol and his classmates had be at HKS at 6:45am for class photos.

We had received heat warnings for the day saying that it would be 33C and it was incredibly hot and humid - thank goodness for the occasional refreshing breeze.

The ceremony at the Harvard Yard started at 9:30am with the procession starting at 8:30am. The yard was packed when I arrived. Due to the recent Marathon bombings, security was tight, they searched all handbags and scanned all men with a metal detector wand. We had received tickets but they never even asked for tickets at the gate. About 35,000 people were expected! It was a bit chaotic as all the seats were taken. Eventually I found a nice shady chair in the Old Yard and watched it on the big screen. Oprah Winfrey received an honoury degree. The speeches were great and inspiring. The degrees were then conferred school by school. Each of the schools had something which represented their schools - the law students had a gavel, the doctors had a stethoscope, the Education students had notebooks and the Government students had a blow-up ball of the world. Not sure what the business school students had...

Oprah Winfrey receiving her honoury degree

HKS graduates

Video on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adw2JfRigmI

Then there was the individual school ceremonies at 12:15pm. So I went to the Harvard Kennedy School. The ceremony was held in the JFK Park under a grand tent. The graduates marched in and the degrees were conferred to each candidate.

For the Afternoon Exercise, we decided to avoid the crowds andwatch it on the big screen in the Forum at HKS. Oprah gave a speech. She spoke about living your life with purpose and that you mustn't live always try to get approval from others. She also mentioned a quote from Maya Angelou 'when you get, give and when you learn, teach...'. Such wise words. Video available on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMWFieBGR7c

Such a great event! a day to remember, another great memory.

Wits, MIT, LBS.... now Athol has conquered Harvard. Much respect to him for being the eternal student :) it was a tough year with assignments, lectures, talks, group work, early mornings, workshops, exams, 20 page papers, etc. but such an amazing experience to learn at one of the top (if not the best!) academic institutes in the world!

My husband is a Harvard graduate - how awesome! Am so proud :)