Notable Commencement Comments

I meant to post this earlier but I got sidetracked. This weekend my brother graduated from UofM, Chemical Engineering. As usual the student speakers were a bit goofy and irrelevant. But I was pleasantly surprised to hear Bill Joy speak. He was one of the software pioneers who started Sun Microsystems and helped create BSD (one of the most popular Unix systems). At first I feared he'd come across as a nerd or only relevant to computers. But I think he did a great job addressing engineering and the graduates alike. Very interesting guy and he really put things into perspective with regards to technology 20 years ago.

The odd thing for me is that I vividly remember the speaker at my older brother's commencement in 1999, Jacques Nasser, who was then with Ford. But I cannot recall one single line or even the name of the speaker at my graduation. But I guess I can't blame her, not sure what was going on through my head on that arena floor. Maybe it just says something about the motivation she gave, or rather the attention span of my class.

Ahh the end of another cycle, life goes on.

Posted in: Life,

2 Comments:

• Mike on May 6, 2004 ~ 03:03 AM

  was quite melodramatic. after i turned in my last final, i din feel elated or relieved. rather, mo' like: 7-yrs in da makin', u survived. good job. maybe i deserve a cookie? NOT. it seems like graduation means alot to ur family, as u’ve gone to wat i presume every1 so far. either dat or u guys r old scoo like dat…

• Mauriat Miranda on May 6, 2004 ~ 09:09 AM

  Yes, every single one … I agree that sometimes formalities can be cumbersome, but we are a very ritualistic and ceremonious bunch. Always been for generations past. Always will for generations to come. Tradition, my man, tradition.