Thursday, May 20, 2010

COMMENCEMENT 2010

I told myself I'd do this on Monday or so, but doing nothing got in the way!  It's pretty nice being home.  Actually, I definitely have NOT been doing nothing.  Packing has taken everything out of me!  But I'll elaborate on that later--in a separate post, most likely.  I've got a lot of material for this one!

So, as you may or may not know/remember, I worked at GW's Graduation and Commencement ceremonies this past weekend.  (Though it really seems like ages and ages ago!)  I was up at 4 to be bussed to the National Mall at 5:15 on Sunday.  It was beautiful, and my friends and I joked that we would NEVER be out there at that time otherwise, so why not enjoy the view?  Here's the best shot I could get, but it looked a lot prettier:


So we had a quick breakfast and got right to work setting up (though most had been done the day before), and reporting to our stations to get ready for people to show up.  And they sure did!  Parents and friends and family members began showing up at 7:00 for the 10:00 ceremony!  By 10:30, a crowd of about 25,000 assembled on the Mall to witness the commencement of our grads, and to see the First Lady speak!

This is the best view of Michelle Obama that I could get from my post:
                       
The White House Blog did a better job:
                      

                       

The First Lady's speech was eloquent, poignant, and funny at times, highlighting the importance of service, and The Challenge that GW students, faculty, and staff rose to meet and conquered!  That's right, friends: 100,000 hours!  I think we deserved the lauds of Michelle Obama after that feat!  Since I really can't do justice in describing her address or the honor of having the current First Lady of the United States speak at my school's Commencement, here's what she actually said:

Video of the Ceremony (go to 54:54 for Michelle's Address)

Hope you liked this post!  Email me to ease the boredom of being home: shireens@gwmail.gwu.edu

~~~Shireen

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