College Graduate

I can't express how proud I am of Oliver. I know this isn't the end by any means, but it is definitely a stepping stone that I'm grateful he has achieved. It means that he made a decision about  what he wanted to do, finished the classes and training to get there and will receive a degree to help him continue working in that field. It was a great time to share and experience. During commencement, we couldn't find him in the crowd, and soon gave up until they all got up and left the seating at the end. We were able to hear from the president of Utah Valley University, Matthew Holland, as well as the student body president and then from Erin Gruwell. Erin Gruwell is actually a teacher. How often do teachers get famous? Erin Gruwell is the teacher behind the Freedom Writers movie and the one who created the Freedom Writers Foundation. She gave a great speech, then was honored with an honorary doctorate along with 3 others more locally renowned.

 The next day, we were able to wander through the new "building" which I'd prefer to call "wing" for the science department. We were finally lucky to find Oliver in the crowd during convocation.

Then during the convocation, Beth, Grandma and I took turns pushing Evan in the stroller and Ryan had some fun while a few people spoke and then a lot of names were read.

 

The whole time, Ryan could never find Oliver or when he did, Oliver never acknowledged Ryan and he became kind of cranky.

But they called his name and he got some cheers from our small cheering section and then we went to get some pictures around a few spots on campus to honor his accomplishments.

Most realistic picture I've ever seen.

Love Ryan's face as I'm trying to keep Evan from running to the fountain behind us.

A decent enough picture-we're at least all smiling...kind of.

 

Telling Ryan to go tickle Grandpa so that we could get the next photo.

It was great to see him run into a few professors and hear "we love this guy." I'm glad that he truly made the most of his college experience (or collegiate experience) and interacted with his professors and took advantage of opportunities to connect with others and learn. I'm sad that we didn't get to interact with any of his education professors whom he really looked up to as well, but I am extremely grateful for his love of learning and how he has achieved this step which will lead to more. Congratulations Oliver.