3 Hours Later...

Graduation Day began early with 5 people to get ready with one shower. Nicholas had to be at the "First" First Baptist Church at 8:30AM and that is about the time we needed to begin grabbing seats. We were blessed with a beautiful day smack dab in the middle of rainy days. The family went to grab seats while I walked with Nicholas so I could take pictures of him lining up. The graduates were to begin processing from the First Baptist church down along the canal to the graduation tent set up in a parking lot. There were 187 graduate students and 400+ undergraduate students.

Welcoming remarks were made by President John Maeda. He just finished his first year at RISD President, and on a side note, loved Nicholas' photograms! Senator Jack Reed was a last minute addition to the ceremony and did not seem very pleased to be in attendance. Mayor David Cicilline also spoke and immediately left after his remarks. Although considering the ceremony lasted until 1:30, who can blame him?

Some awards were given out, the Board of Trustees made comments, there was a moment of silence for deceased faculty, the presentation of honorary degrees, the Commencement Address, speeches by a Graduate Student and an Undergraduate Student, and then the presentation of degrees.

Five honorary degrees were conferred upon Caterina Fake, co founder of Flickr; Jonathan Ive, Sr. VP of Industrial Design at Apple; Roger Mandle, former President of RISD; Betty Woodman, world renowned ceramic sculptor, and Sir Ken Robinson, one of the world's leading thinkers on creativity. He delivered an amazing Commencement Address which you can watch here and I reflect upon here. It is about 34 minutes full of wit, challenges, and the importance of keeping the arts in our schools. You can check out his new book here where I found it the cheapest.

The 187 graduate students were called out individually. The graduate walked up, turned around to face the crowd so President Maeda could "hood" them. Then they shook hands with President Maeda and the Dean of their respective college. Then they scooted on down the ramp where they met their Department Head who shook hands with them and handed them a "dummy" diploma. The 400+ undergraduate students walked across the stage as their name was called, shook hands with President Maeda and received their "dummy" diploma.

Afterwards, the tent full of graduates, honored guests, and family processed down the canal to the catering tent where there was lots of food. However, once a plate of food was set down on a table, it was immediately gone like vultures descending on prey. Nicholas picked up his official diploma and we skedaddled back home to rest before the Lobster Bake.

It was a gloriously beautiful day. We were blessed to have so many family and friends to share in the celebration!