Family Circle

Ughhh, I thought. When are we going to find parking in a completely crowded lot?! There is no parking! We are going to be the very last when the line comes!
There I was, exasperated already, sitting in a car with my dad and sister, following my mom’s car, looping in a filled lot, on the day of my mom’s commencement. Honestly, I almost thought we would be going on and on and on forever…
…until finally mom found a space, and parked. She hurriedly got out, and my Grandparents wandered around while we also found an empty space. Of course, she had to get out fast, for nobody would want to be late for their own commencement! So, with her hexagonal professor cap and her marvelous flowing robe, she walked away.
We parked, met up with the Grandparents, grabbed our jackets, and hurried to the Greek Theatre.
We came upon a crowded flower stand with a ring of people around it. We popped in and gazed upon the plethora of roses, petunias, sunflowers, vetch, and other wonderful plants. There were also many assortments of Hawaiian leis, in multiple colors. So we fished out our wallets and produced money enough for a bouquet of roses and a pink and yellow lei.
It was then when we finally realized how long the line entering the Greek had gotten. It stretched down multiple flights of stairs, and then curled around the side of the building. We ran to the end, sighing a breath of relief as we found the line to be going quite quickly.
The Greek looked just like a miniature version of the Colosseum, and, of course, a Greek Theatre. But I had never seen a Greek Theater full. A giant horde of people were crowded in, and we finally found a spot much in the back.

The Stage of the Greek Theatre

Slowly, the Bachelor Degrees marched in, with large neon yellow signs stating their department, such as “CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING” or “BIOENGINEERING”.
After the BS’s were the Masters as they approached in the same manner. Their caps were square, not like my mom’s hexagonal cap. When they were done (they took much longer than the Bachelors) the PhDs began walking on to the stage.
We cheered loudly as I frantically searched for my mom with no avail. Dad looked too, but we found nothing until I found her with the video camera zoomed in. Suddenly, a speaker came up to the podium and announced the singing of the national anthem.
More speakers came, and when they finished the Hooding of the new PhDs began.
Basically, Hooding is when the chair member of your department calls your name, and you get presented with a ‘hood’ from your adviser, an embellishment to the robe. I noticed furthermore that advisers had octagonal caps, and understood that the higher your level, the more sides to your cap. Hmmm… I wondered if anyone had a decagonal cap. Maybe, maybe not.
When mom came up, we jumped on to our feet, and cheered loudly, the people next to us, the parents of another PhD grad, cheered with us as well. In return, we cheered for them.
Then, it got boring. The professor kept calling our names, the grads kept coming up, and then the masters proceeded in the same way. But really, when all you’re listening to is a monotonous voice calling out names of people you don’t know, it gets tedious.
Suddenly, mom appeared behind us and I happily left the Greek towards the reception at another lab, where everybody from then on called her Dr. Mai.

Dr. Mai