Graduation Week....

Current student & security guard.  Future graduate!

This week was my first university graduation as a faculty member.  I have to admit.  It is different. There is still the same giddiness as when I was a student... excitement for the ceremony, pomp and circumstance of graduation day.  Excitement for the accomplishment of goals that have taken years of hard work to accomplish.  For me, it was great to be on the side of graduation to do the congratulating.  I love being a faculty member.  I love my students.

SOE Graduation Banquet

The week started with a wonderful dinner celebrating the graduates from the College of Education.  Food was eaten, speeches were given, and accomplishments celebrated.  One of my favorite moments came from our students from the Marshall Islands.  These sweet ladies leave their homes, families, and teaching jobs to study at BYUH for six months of the year.  They learn in a language foreign to them in an community vastly different from their own.  At the end of this experience, these sweet ladies sang to us... fellow students and faculty. It was one of those moments that brings tears to the eyes, a beautiful song full of gratitude, joy, and thanks.  Additionally, these sweet ladies made shell leis and presented them to the SOE faculty.  I was honored, especially given the fact that none of these ladies were in any courses I taught this semester.

University Graduation Banquet

Most universities are able to celebrate their graduates at a department level.  BYUH is able to celebrate everyone at a university level through an open invitation to all graduates and their families.  A great buffet is served.  Photos and video memories are shared on the big screen.  

Then the speakers started.  At most banquets, a hush would come over the crowd during the speeches given by fellow graduates.  However, at BYUH the volume stayed the same.  Conversational voices could be heard throughout the audience. Some people were annoyed and a few "shhh" could be heard through the audience.  But, if you were paying close attention, you knew the conversational din in the audience was the voices of students translating the speaker's words for their non-English speaking family and friends. It was touching to see this act of service from BYUH students.  Remember, these non-English speaking family and friends had traveled a long distance.  The closest land (San Francisco) is a 5 hour flight.  Most of these families had flown from Asia, the Pacific, and other areas of the world to celebrate their student's accomplishments.  How could you not appreciated and be humbled by the noise generated by these translators?  They were heeding the BYUH motto, "Enter to Learn. Go Forth To Serve." Service indeed!

And then, the end comes.  All graduates are asked to gather on stage.  This is Hawaii.  This is tradition.  This is when the BYUH community can sing "Aloha ʻOe" (Farewell to Thee) to honor the hard work put in by these students.  Aloha 'Oe is the Hawaiian version of "God Be With You Till We Meet Again."  It has a long history, having been written and composed by Hawaii's last monarch, and only queen regent of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Queen Liliuokalani.  It is touching to listen to.

An added bonus this year... students were serenaded by Joseph W. Ah Quin, a wonderful singer.  You may know him as Moki, Mahana's father from the movie Johnny Lingo.  Forget the cow bargaining, this man can sing.  A beautiful farewell dinner to BYUH graduates.

Graduation Day at BYUH

Graduation day in Laie starts the same as most any other college.  Faculty line up.  Students line up.  Parents find a seat.  Faculty march into the auditorium followed by students with pomp and circumstance playing in the background.  Speeches are given. Musical numbers are performed.  Finally, the big moment arrives.  Names are read and hands are shaken.  Parents try to control their excitement and stifle their shouts of enthusiasm.  Everyone stands.  Faculty march outside and the scene now varies from most universities.

Once outside, faculty form a lane through which the recently appointed graduates will pass.  Not so unusual. However, right behind the faculty are the throngs of parents, friends, and well-wishers who wait giddily with excitement. Behind them a Polynesian drum ensemble are playing, providing a tremendous amount of energy to an already exciting event.  On the roads leading into campus, lei stands line the roads.  Leis of all types are for sell:  flower, leaf and flower, leaf, candy, popcorn, toys, balloons.

BYU SOE Graduates from Hong Kong that I get to work with.

Out walk the graduates.  Persistent family and friends reach over faculty to add leis onto students.  Students shake hands and give hugs to faculty. A few tears are shed.  I shake hands and offer congratulations to students who I have never met but just want to thank any faculty member in the line.  When students make it out of the line ore family and friends await.  AND THE LEIs BEGIN... On the mainland, a person may receive a nice lei or two in honor of an event.  In Laie, students receive enough leis to make the weight felt.  Some student have so many leis, they cannot walk.  They simply stand and pose for pictures.

It is a true celebration.  A time for students to feel the joy of accomplishment.  A time family and friends to be proud.  A time to wear a lot of leis.