Convocation

Flag-Bearer
Originally uploaded by rugbyxm

Over the past 3 days, I've worked at the four convocations (graduation ceremonies) of the University of Chicago. My job, as you might guess from the picture, was to bear the University flag and lead the procession, sit on stage (right in the center, behind the President of the University) for the entire ceremony to make sure that the flag didn't fall, and lead the recession at the end.

While it was indeed quite tedious to listen to hundreds of names being called out at a time, it was a great feeling to be part of a such an important event. It was obviously an important event for the graduates and the families--I would give a conservative estimate that for the College Convocation, there were easily 8,000 people in attendance. There were so many that not everyone could fit in Harper Quad/see the stage, so the ceremony was broadcast via a live feed to several huge LCD screens scattered around campus. And given my location on the stage during the ceremony, I had lots of "screen time."

After today's Graduate School of Business convocation, I packed up the last of my things and said good-bye to Room 1120 in the Shoreland. For the next two nights I'll be staying in a friend's apartment before I leave for Georgia.