On wednesday, Travis & I took another trip back to Stoney Point for some more rock climbing. Climbing on natural rock definitely beats climbing indoors. The photo above is of Travis in an "egyptian-like" pose on Turlock/Boulder 2 while the photo below is of me on the top of the very same boulder.
Thursday marked a trip to Santa Monica to check out the Pier with Travis and Meera. Above, you can see us on the pier in front of the carnival rides. It was cloudy, windy & cold when we first got there. It did clear up as you can see us below on Santa Monica beach enjoying the sun & playground equipment.
Then, we walked around 3rd Street Promenade for a bit before enjoying some cupcakes. Here we have Meera's Red Velvet on the left and my Strawberry on the right. Travis' Coconut is not pictured.
Finally, we've arrived at Friday. The morning ceremony featured a great speech by former ABC News anchor Ted Koppel and an appearance by Clint Eastwood. Both were awarded honorary degrees by the school and were distinguished guests. Following the main ceremony, which was markedly better than last year's, I headed over to the Rossier School of Education ceremony to support a fellow, local brother: Ryan. He had the honor of delivering one of the speeches and I had to be there to witness it. Much respect for using a quote I greatly admire from Gandhi.
After that ceremony ran a little longer than I expected, I bolted over to the BME reception to meet up with my fellow graduates & classmates for a few pics and a bite to eat.
Nick, Claudia, Puja, Leah & I.
Me & Dad.
Claudia & I.
Claudia, Nick, Travis, Myself & Meera with the BME sign. Funny story: Nick & I ripped off the tape holding the sign to the easel and were preparing to take the sign to the ceremony before BME staff members came to ask us what we were doing and had us return the sign. We were so close...
Instead, we did nab this sign which was used to organize the graduates by departments. All the BME grad students signed it and now we have a neat piece of memorabilia from the ceremony. That sign will be worth a pretty penny in a few years, just you all wait and see...
Meera's sister Tasha was kind enough to run to the store to buy us a bottle of Champagne for us. We were gonna sneak it into the ceremony but they took so long to get everyone seated that we couldn't wait and preceeded to celebrate before the ceremony began.
Nick opening the bottle.
Meera boozing.
Claudia guzzling.
Travis chugging.
Leah drinking.
I couldn't help but partake in a bit of the bubbly myself.
The whole lot of us after finishing the bottle.
Meera, Nick, Travis, Me & Brandon after having received our diplomas. We're all smiling because we didn't yet know there were gonna be many more names and another couple hours of the ceremony left...
I'm glad I was able to sneak out for just a bit to congratulate Erin at her commissioning ceremony. The Air Force's newest 2nd Lieutenant was a fellow Paris buddy of mine from the Engineering summer program.
Ryan & Darren (and also Claudia's friend) were on hand to see Claudia and I get our degrees. Thanks for the support!
Me, Meera & Travis. First picture was the "serious" one and the second was the "fun" one.
Grad season isn't complete without a couple of grad dinners. Here are two that I've been to so far.
Right after commencement, my dad & I had to rush off to Hollywood for Meera's dinner at Palm Thai. Here are 3 graduates: Me, Meera & Kevin.
24 hours later, I had the privilege of celebrating Claudia's graduation with her parents, Kellie, Jeanine, Ryan R, Ryan C, Aaron, Priscilla, Darren & Phil.
A couple days after the graduation festivities were well in the past, Brad & I took off on the first of, hopefully, many forays into the wilderness. This hike was the Big Santa Anita Canyon trail. We got a great view of Sturtevent Falls from the bottom here.
We also hiked to the upper falls to see what it looked like from above. Here's Brad (decked out in more burnt orange gear - backpack, sunglasses, shirt & shoes - than you can shake a stick at) at a little mini falls.
And here I am at the very same place.
And here we both are after completing the 5+ mile trail.
So, I hope you enjoy all the pics. The past week has really been memorable and a heck of a lot of fun. It essentially marks the end of an era (that of my college years) even though I've technically got another class to go. Most of us will be headed off to work in the "real" world by the time the end of this summer rolls around. It hasn't really hit yet (though I can say I've certainly begun to feel just how big a deal this is). It's all been a lot of fun and I'm definitely looking forward to what might be there for me just around the corner. So, to conclude this post (and to mark the century of entries), I'd like to wish all of the 2007 Graduates (High school, Undergrad & Grad) the best of luck and here's to the future!
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1 comment:
congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!! wish i could have been there :)
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