As this is the time for graduation in most parts of the country (this month and next month), I'd like to congratulate any members or people they know that are graduating now. Whether it's college or high school or getting phd's, congrats and I wish them well.

My own (yesterday) was wonderfull, despite the fact that they misspelled my name on my diploma

Anyway, congratulations again to you or your friends and loved ones.

school sucks

My wife elected not to walk (as did her sister; Both graduated this past semester). I didn't walk. My brother (5 years younger than me) didn't either. I spent a few hours Saturday seeing my sister (8 years younger than me) walk.

There were more people in the crowd than I'd have expected who I would say "weren't dressed for a graduation".

I will save my other snarkiness as it probably has no place here. I do hope that neither of my 2 remaining siblings, one of whom just finished her freshman year where I got my degree and currently work, decide to walk.

I'll answer the question here: I chose not to walk because I wasn't graduating with my classmates. When it looked like I wouldn't graduate on time because my last full-time semester wasn't going to give me enough credits, I took a job here. Eventually, before my credits expired, I got slightly motivated and finished. I don't really know any of the other people I graduated with, and the graduation speaker was just the president of the university. Why bother?

My wife went to a big school. You get to "walk" in a departmental ceremony, the general graduation is just "whole department stands, is applauded, sits".

My sister-in-law didn't have the money for a cap and gown the day it was due, and so punted.

My brother went to the same school my wife did.

My sister must actually care. My diploma is in a pile under a desk at home. I will probably never use my degree. I don't care with a passion.

I went to mine. It was a good way of seeing everybody again. The actual ceremony wasn't that amazing but I didn't really expect it to be. I got about 30 seconds of fame as I was called up, shook hands with the principle and walked off again. My family had to ensure 3 hours of other random people walking up though so it was worse for them

My diploma is in a cupboard somewhere. Doesn't look worth it when you end up with such a crappy piece of paper for 3-4 years worth of time! I must have thought it was worth it in the end though as I'm half way through my masters as we speak...

- Trevor

Hope they're reprinting it!

They managed to get mine right but some of my friends ended up having their name mispronounced as the head of department didn't have very good English.

- Trevor

I walked mine - the departmental version - just because my whole family was there. So it was *expected* of me to walk. For the big ceremony, I just sat with my family and enjoyed a better view of the whole ceremony. They really did the big ceremony up with fireworks and the whole bit - plus Bill Moyers was the speaker so it was worth going to.

The departmental ceremonies are a huge drag, though. I've never seen an interesting version of one.

- trs

That all makes sense. I'm not sure why you hope the others won't walk, though. That's a somewhat negative way of looking at it.

I don't think you have to go to a very big school to have that same experience. Mine has about 5500 undergraduates, and they run the school-wide ceremony the same way. They announce your department, you stand up, people clap, you sit down. That's not really the reason you go to those things. The reason is more for what you said you didn't have, though, which is a sense of moving on with the people you got to know over the past 4 years. Granted, I don't know 98% of my class, but I got to sit with 4 of the people I did know so we had fun. Plus, our speaker was Queen Noor of Jordan, we gave an honorary doctorate to her and civil rights leader (and Representative) John Lewis, and our previous chancelor Margaret Thatcher showed up. So, hearing these incredible people speak is a nice thing.

Anyway, despite the fact that they tell you you have graduated at that main ceremony, I definitely considered the smaller ceremonies for your departments the real thing. I was in a department with only 13 graduates, 10 of whom were there instead of at their other department (for double majors). It was nice to have an intimate send-off.

Regardless, I'm merely congratulating people for earning their degrees. Whether you're going to use it or not, you probably had to work pretty hard at it.

My mom expected me to walk, I told her I wasn't going to, and then I didn't.

My family is always here. My parents' house is closer to where I work than my house is.

My department's ceremony might have been worth it, I would've gotten a hard hat, apparently.

That all makes sense. I'm not sure why you hope the others won't walk, though. That's a somewhat negative way of looking at it.

I have a short attention span.

We only had one ceremony. The "big" ceremony was only for a few departments anyway as they had trouble before trying to squeeze everybody onto a single day. The university itself isn't that big anyway so I'm wondering how other places coped with large numbers of graduates.

All of my family that went to university all walked as well. It was a really good day in the end.

- Trevor

The departmental ceremonies are a huge drag, though. I've never seen an interesting version of one.

Mine was nice! You need to go to the right departmens. Mine started with a solo accoustic guitarist playing two numbers, then the introduction, then the jazz piano and harmonica teacher played his own variations on "Pomp and Circumstance", then diplomas, then a wonderful piano piece. Very short and very pleasant, no more than an hour.

The main ceremony was a bit boring for me, though (aside from the speakers). Very long.

Ditto. That's why I was okay with my graduation.

I just had to queue up for about 30 minutes outside and then walk through. After that I could do what I liked and since we were outside in the queue anyway we could talk and generally mess about.

- Trevor

the head of department didn't have very good English.

Some people have a way with words and other people ... not have way?

I'm sure his Russian was good but his English wasn't that brilliant
Half of the lecturers were Russian. They all were all into machine vision and AI and for some peculiar reason liked wearing vests.

- Trevor

Congrats, Dignan. Now get out there and make some money!

I won't be walking in my ceremony this weekend... I walked for my undergrad degree, but this time around, I just couldn't see the point. My family is too far away to be reasonably expected to attend, and the degree itself, while important to me, isn't nearly as important as my undergrad degree. I learned a lot for my masters degree, but I really grew up during the time I was in college... Walking in my graduation ceremony for my B.S. was less about being proud of what I learned in the classroom (though that was certainly part of it) and more about being proud of having grown in other areas of life.

All in all, I really wish I never had to leave college. I'd still be there today if I could find a way.

I walked, only because I a few of my closest friends were graduating with me. Otherwise, your explanation for skipping the ceremony would have been the same as mine.

My diploma is in a pile under a desk at home. I will probably never use my degree. I don't care with a passion.

My diploma is hanging on a wall in my apartment, where it belongs. Here's what I've used my diploma to:

• Get the hell out of Windsor, Ontario.
• Get a reasonably high paying (in Canadian terms) job nearly immediately after graduation (6 months, because I was being picky).
• Get a job in LA, doubling my Canadian salary, less than two weeks after being layed off, partly because the diploma let me...
• ...Get a year-long, renewable US work visa under NAFTA in less than a week.
  

And every now and then, I actually do something at work that's related to something I learned while getting my degree... but not that often.

My diploma opened doors for me. Sorry to hear yours was a waste.

Im going to walk this june. Anyone know what I should do with a BS in Physics? Ive been looking aroound for jobs for a few weeks and it all seems pretty depressing.

I walked when I graduated four years ago, though it wasn't really a big deal. I also happened to be getting married later that day, so it was kind of overshadowed. I did have lots of family there, however, so that made it kind of nice. Also my groomsmen all showed up wearing tacky Hawaiian shirts (which to be fair I had given them the night before as a gag gift). It was a small school so it took under an hour. The graduation was at 10 am and the marriage at 2 PM; my wife was worried I wouldn't be done in time. In ended up going to IHOP in between and having a huge breakfast!

Im going to walk this june. Anyone know what I should do with a BS in Physics? Ive been looking aroound for jobs for a few weeks and it all seems pretty depressing.

If I were in your situation, this would be my battle plan:

1. Get an MS in Physics.
2. Get a PhD in Physics.
3. Teach Physics in college.
4. Hold after-hours study sessions so you can study the physiques of young college girls.

Your plan may vary slightly, but I highly recommend #4.

True - I was have to assume that the music department would be one of the only departments with an entertaining departmental graduation ceremony. Too bad none of my friends are music majors.

You forgot going on field trips to local amusement parks to demonstrate physics in action. I'm a Coaster Freak, and physics is one of the more interesting of sciences, so that sounds good to me. Actually, he could probably get a job at a design/engineering company that makes the coasters.

But, of course, #4 doesn't sound too bad either.

yeah but i came to hate school, so #4 sounds like the best option. Im faced with the problem of having a degree and no experience in the field. Anyone have any adivce on getting Entry level employment without knowing anyone in a company?

4. Hold after-hours study sessions so you can study the physiques of young college girls. -yn0t_

The only problem with this is that very few young college girls study physics.

Ah, but many of them take PHYSICS101. Even the sorority girls. And they're likely to need more after-hours ``help''.

And they're likely to need more after-hours ``help''.

And with a digital camera, and a few web skillz, you can run a profitable little business on the side!