Sunday, May 16, 2010

Graduation Station

My job, as chair of Poli Sci, is to read out the names of the 132 first majors (we had 200 total majors, out of a class of 1,400, meaning of course that 1 of every 7 Duke students finish with a Poli Sci major. Amazing!).

I get a lot of the names wrong. Hard to pronounce.

But this year I yelled at the kids who blow right past the podium and get their diploma w/o giving the parents a chance to take pictures. I actually made one kid come BACK, and pose again so that dad could take the picture.

We got through 12 awards, and then 132 names, complete with ample ops for pix, in 45 minutes. I made the kiddos line up, and made sure the moms / dads / uncles knew where to stand to take pictures.

Got a big hand from the parents. It's their day. Enjoy, parents! Your kid is done.

Fortunately, not too hot today, and there was a breeze. Another year over....

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Dr. Taylor at NCSU didn't have your problem. For some reason, all of our polisci grads were smart enough to pose and make a cheesy face for the camera. You did manage it all about 5 minutes faster than we did, and with more graduates.

Dr. Taylor did have a much easier time with all the names, though. Hooked On Phonics doesn't prepare anyone for that kind of abuse.

Mungowitz said...

Oh, come on, with that cheesy Brit accent, how could you even TELL if Andrew mispronounced anything?

Unknown said...

Ooh, come to think of it, he didn't actually HAVE to pronounce ANY names. He just stood on the stage handing out the diplomas while Dr. Kearney read off the names. Tricksy Dr. Taylor....