Graduation Day (Part 1)

Graduation Day finally came! I never thought it would, at times. On Friday, May 27th, the small history department graduation was held. In attendance were 27 out of 28 graduates, family, friends, and faculty. We graduates had to be there an hour early, 3pm. The graduation itself was held at 4pm.

After escorting my family, mom, dad, and grandma, to the engineering building where the graduation would take place– the history building is very old and not at all fancy, while the engineering building is sparkling gem, you can tell what college the university values most– I made my way to Dudley Moorehead Hall. Once I was there I met up with Phuong, *the* crush of two years, and other peeps. After I picked up my gag diploma, we all headed outside for pictures. We had a few taken of the three of us, and then I took several of Phuong and the crush.

I had left my brand new camera with my mom. My fiancé (the most wonderful man in the entire world) had got my present to me a few days early. He had bought for me.... the Harajuku Lovers Camera (HP Photosmart R607)!!! I never ever expected such a wonderful present! In case you are not familiar with it, this would be the camera co-designed by Gwen Stefani and HP. It’s a digital camera that has 4.1 megapixels. I’m not quite sure what that means, but it must be important because it is written rather prominently on the box.

After taking pictures of our own, then we gathered for pictures by the professional photographer. I had opted not to buy a picture because it was a bit too steep for my blood. The photographer made us stand in two different places and kept rearranging us before he actually took any pictures. Plus, he would not let us keep our sunglasses on.

Following pictures, we were once again rounded up by faculty members. For the last time, we sat in DMH 150 while Prof. Underdahl gave us our directions. He was in the military for a long time and taught at a military college. While speaking to us, he proceeded to draw a diagram on the white board on how we would....

1. Enter the Lecture Hall where the ceremony would be held

2. File into rows and seats, in alphabetical order (including contingency plan in case we ran out of chairs)

3. Cross the stage when our names were held

4. File out of the lecture hall.

Despite several diagrams with many arrows in different colors, we still managed to get all messed up. Hey, I was listening to the instructions!

After a very long commencement speech by Dr. Vasquez, our names were read and we crossed the stage.

VOILA!!

We were now officially graduated!! It was a very surreal experience for me. During my long hard slog through academia, I just never ever thought the day would come!

After we left the theatre, Prof. Cirvilerri came up to me and congratulated me. He asked me about my future plans, grad school and so forth. When my parents caught up with us, he told my family about what a wonderful student I had been, and about my incredible presentation on V.I. Lenin. It turns out that he had done his dissertation on Lenin and that I did very good, thorough work. (Sorry, I don’t get to brag very much about academic praise with my measly 3.2 GPA.)

The history department had a sort of picnic/ buffet waiting for us. While my parents and I were snacking (my poor allergy prone mother could only have the lemonade because she was unsure of all the other ingredients) Dr. Reynolds came up and congratulated me. I really wasn’t expecting that he’d remember me, but he did. He too asked about my plans, grad school, careers, etc. I took two classes with him, History of World War II and History of China from 1600. For our term paper in WWII class, I chose to write about the Battle for Stalingrad, because the directions were very vague. Anyway, it turned out I’d written on the wrong topic– I was not the only one to do so. When I got my 30 page paper back, he had written something like "Did you even read the term paper guidelines? If so, it is not apparent. Nevertheless, you have done a fine job which deserves to be rewarded." He game me an A-. I was always sort of afraid of screwing up in his classes after that.

Dr. Underdahl also came up to me to say goodbye and ask about..... GRAD SCHOOL! He even said he would be willing to write me a letter of recommendation. Also, he asked about my husband-to-be. We had been talking once and I had said that Sean was over in Iraq, and it turned out his son had just got home from Falluja.

After posing for a few more pictures with Phuong, Mai, and Lisa B, we had to skidaddle. Sean’s plane was due to land in about an hours time. SJSU is very close to the airport, but the day before my dad and I had been there to pick up my grandma, and it was super busy! Probably because of the upcoming Memorial Holiday weekend. We scored a primo parking place right outside of baggage claim, and walked as far as you can walk nowadays to the terminal. My entire family and I perched on an uncomfortable bench and waited for my San Jose bound Sean.

Finally, after the plane landed, I looked to my left and saw him walking towards me. That’s one of the great things about having such a tall guy– easy to spot! After some kisses and hugs, and don’t forget, pictures, we were off to baggage claim, and eventually a restaurant to feed out hungry tummies.

Due to the varied likes and dislikes of my family, I picked two places to eat: 1. Great American Cheesecake Factory, and 2. Buca di Beppo. Since Sean and I had already been to the Cheesecake Factory (the night we got engaged!), we were leaning more to Buca di Beppo. All the restaurants were packed. I kept seeing people in blue caps and gowns walking around. Sean and I went to the bar and settled in for at least part on the 60 minute wait. I had a lemon drop, Sean had some sort of beer in a very tall glass. After I started to feel the alcohol, we walked around Oakridge Mall a bit.

My poor family waited for what seemed like forever for our table. Then, the hostess called my name and we became the chosen ones, being led to a table. Having never been there before, I did not know that the menu was family style. This means that the portions are either for 3 people or 5 people. We ended up ordering cheese ravioli, spaghetti, and potato gnocchi. The gnocchi was my favourite because it came with mushrooms, artichokes, cheese, and all kinds of other yumminess. We’d also ordered a bread pudding dessert, but our waitress forgot it and we had to get it to go. Keep in mind, we got to the restaurant around 7:45pm, got seated around 9pm, and by 10:45 our dessert still hadn’t come. The food was very, very wonderful, but be prepared that you will face a long wait if you go there without reservations.

Despite her best efforts, my mom had a mild allergic reaction to the garlic bread and had to spend the night. It’s only the second time she’s stayed here since the divorce. She had to take some benedryl and then was too sleepy for the 50 mile drive back home.

I had promised my friends Phuong and Lisa that Sean and I would meet them at a club that night. But we didn’t get home until 11pm. Poor Sean, up since 7am or so, being dragged out to a bar at midnight. He was a good sport though and didn’t complain once.

By about 1:45am, we drove back to my house. We fell into bed and into an easy sleep. Morning came early when my mom knocked on my door at 6:15 to wake us for the big University graduation.

(tbc)

xoxox Tragic Tuyen