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Wednesday night before graduation nervousness arose at the thought of the
next day's activities. Graduation had quickly crept up on me and the anxiety
of seeing hundreds of people on the field watching me get my name called
off as a graduate was setting in.
Walking on campus made me sad at the thought of not having to rush to another class again.
Although, this ceremony did not mark my actual departure from Cal State Long Beach, it was the novelty of wearing the cap and gown that sent chills up and down my spine. I still have nine units left to take during summer school, but I already felt the accomplishment of five years of hard labor as a student.
That evening in bed, I realized the night's rest was not going to be easy. I wanted it to be morning so that I could get dressed in my graduation attire. Finally, the time came when I dozed off into what I thought would be a deep slumber.
Suddenly, the phone rang at 2 a.m. I quickly answered it and on the other line was a fellow graduating senior. I was not the only one that could not sleep. I was relieved knowing someone else felt the same.
The next morning my alarm rang at 5:30 a.m. I didn't want to get out of bed, I was tired. I slowly crawled to the bathroom.
I jumped in the shower and now instead of having the feeling of nervousness, it all made sense. I was finally going to accomplish my dream and my mothers.
I arrived at school at 8:15 as instructed. Walking on campus made me sad at the thought of not having to rush to another class again. It's sounds crazy, but true.
Then, I saw all the other graduates. It is funny how many different emotions one goes through on graduation day. One feels like the day is never going to arrive and then in an instance, it does. It was now 9:00 a.m. and the ceremony had begun. New feelings came upon me-is my hair decent, does this hat fit me funny, did I choose the right outfit to wear underneath my gown. The only thing for certain was my family and friends were there to cheer me on.
It was now fifteen minutes later and the graduates were seated. At this point, I wanted to run to the stage, have the announcer call my name, and tear the microphone away from him so I could give my thank-you speech.
After all the scheduled speeches were given, it was time to announce each graduate. It felt like I was so far back, but in no time I was standing in the line with my name-card in hand, hoping that my name would be pronounced correctly. I handed the announcer my card
and to my surprise, he read it correctly. I walked up the stairs to shake President Maxson's hand and thought to myself, "GO BEACH." As I walked back to my seat, I saw my family and friends and let out a big smile and waved to them.
After the ceremony was over, I met with family and friends. I ran up to my mother and when I saw the tears running down her face, I felt the same ones going down mine. I hugged everyone and thought to myself, I did it! But they were the ones that helped me accomplish my goals.
Pratsara Kantathavorn is the Opinion Editor of the Summer Forty-Niner.