may commence.

happy graduation day to all BSU grads! congrats on your newly bestowed diplomas and transition into the next phase of your life as alumni.

3 short (?) years ago, i graduated with my bachelor's degree from boise state. i honestly do not remember much about graduation, since i've attended several commencement ceremonies in the taco bell arena (including my brother's and my own high school graduation, my spring 07 graduation, spring 08 graduation, and my master's fall 2008 graduation), and they've all muddled together into one big compost pile. however, there are some key memories that stand out:

- i was nominated and then selected as one of four marshalls for the college of arts & sciences, and my job was to lead all graduates from CAS into the arena and later towards the diploma reception line. i'm not sure what i did to deserve such a title, but i was able to tell my friends and family EXACTLY where i was sitting ahead of time.

- the student speaker annoyed me. she preached about the importance of dedication and how lucky we were to have a college education. she was just graduating herself-- why was she qualified to tell me about dedication? about the value of a degree? tell me about what you know, not what a hallmark card told you.

- boise state's president bob kustra is a wonderful speaker, on the other hand. i was pleasantly surprised and impressed.

- the shoes i wore rubbed two horrible blisters on the second toe of each foot.

- my mom's sister and my dad's stepdad attended my graduation, along with brett and his mom. i was very thankful for their support.

- my parents threw me a backyard BBQ party to celebrate. my friends and neighbors came, and we had lots of leftovers.

and then there are a whole bunch of bad feelings. like, i worked hard, studied hard, read hard, wrote hard, and complained hard about my 4 years as an english major-- only to graduate with a double-emphasis in literature and writing. both emphases celebrated (and denounced) different aspects of the discipline that thoroughly frustrated me. for instance, writing profs generally scoffed at the literary canon and focused mainly on contemporary texts with living authors--whereas literature profs mostly emphasized classical works as the source of worthy study. oh, and then i worked 30+ hours a week throughout my undergraduate years, actively enrolled in and attended honors college courses, and served as an ambassador, research intern, and student representative at local college faires. oh, and i pulled almost-straight A's (except for a B in an honors colloquium class on t.s. eliot and f.h. bradley) during my last 3 years. another feeling of malcontent was the general lack of respect towards a liberal arts type of degree. my friends would tell people, "oh, i'm just an accounting major..." and they'd received the congratulatory, "that's wonderful!" versus "interesting.what do you do with an english major?" oh, you know, just responsibility, accountability, problem-solving, attention to detail, creativity, effective communication, research processes, ethics, and general knowledge about things no one else cares about. not important stuff, apparently.

to me though, college was not a joke. i took my coursework and extracurricular activities seriously. i realized that most of my college education would not directly apply to the workplace or in my daily duties. nonetheless, i enjoyed soaking up knowledge from a 3 hour night class about linguistic properties of agency, and i have never felt more accomplished than after i would read a chapter in moby-dick and confidently assert my interpretation of the text (and sometimes after consulting secondary criticism and recognized sources)-- or after reading my poetry in front of a small crowd at the cabin as my senior project. therefore, i am very proud of my classmates who have earned their degrees and will go on to do great things with the skills and knowledge their education has procured and supplied.

i am a firm believer that knowledge is power. being called a "know-it-all" is a positive moniker. learning doesn't stop after the last final exam is taken; we should continue to investigate, question, test, and share our knowledge daily.