<p>Bless. (10 char.)</p>
<p>I wish you uncountably many smiles and every happiness.</p>
<p>This just made my day! Wonderful!</p>
<p>I am thrilled to hear this, LiT! Have a wonderful trip and a magnificent time at your daughter’s graduation.</p>
<p>I intend to. Does anyone know what the weather is supposed to be like?</p>
<p>Seemingly, it often rains. In 2004, it was fine for Ivy Day, held off through graduation, and then rained out Illumination. Some years graduation has had to be held inside <blanking of=“” name=“” athletic=“” facility=“”>.</blanking></p>
<p>Ivy Day is worth witnessing. In some ways I found it more moving than graduation. You can’t help but to understand that the current graduates to be are part of a chain-of-being, extending into the past and into the future.</p>
<p>I’m actually not big on ceremony in general, christenings, weddings, and funerals aside. (A military change of command ceremony strikes me as being good for time off from Purgatory.) But Ivy Day I think is special.</p>
<p>Blessings to you, LiT. I hope you have a glorious Commencement Weekend. Ivy Day is great but I also loved Illuminations – so beautiful and meaningful. "Smith Class of XX " in lights and fireworks over Paradise Pond. Choral groups serenading on steps. And then of course all the lanterns. I get chills recalling it and thinking of the joy you and your D will share. </p>
<p>I just checked in here as my own D, Smith '06, is headed to campus in three days for her fifth reunion weekend. It is especially nice for her as she is, a few weeks later, starting her dream job in Boston. I doubt she would be heading where she is were it not for the encouragement she received at Smith.</p>
<p>In her first year, D ran into one of her profs in the gym, who said to her, “You seem to have a talent for economics. Would you consider it for a major?” </p>
<p>D had enrolled in her first econ course as an exploration (had originally figured she would be majoring in gov or anthro), but it turned out that econ was a nice blend of her taste for both the sociological and the analytical. So she did end up majoring in econ, got a job with an economic consulting firm out of undergrad, worked three years (during which she recruited another Smith grad for the firm), then went to grad school (fully funded and with an assistantship) for an M.S. in applied economics, did very well, and had lots of interest and several job offers when she was job hunting this spring.</p>
<p>The job she ended up accepting will likely involve some international travel, including to China, where D spent time while an undergrad. She is thrilled. D will, I hope, make a point of thanking those at Smith who were so influential in starting her on her path. That random encounter in the gym was just one of many little moments at Smith that made a big difference in her life. </p>
<p>In the years since graduating from Smith D has maintained her Smith connections, participating in an area Smith book group (with members ranging in age from their twenties to their eighties!) and serving as an alum interviewer for admissions.</p>
<p>She will be marching in the Ivy Day parade, wearing her commencement '06 white dress. :)</p>
<p>ENJOY, LiT and all other parents of '11 grads, and HEARTY CONGRATS to the grads!</p>
<p>jyber209–As a newbie into the Smith Family, I want to thank you for the detailed description of your daughter’s experience at Smith! It makes me so hopeful that my own daughter will have an amazing experience at Smith that will propel her into a satisfying career with many interesting opportunities! </p>
<p>My husband is not on CC and I am going to email your comments to him, so he can also have the joy of reading it (it gave me goosebumps!).</p>
<p>LiT, congrats to you! How incredibly exciting! My d. will be on campus helping with sophomore push, and she will also be JYA in Paris next year. I’m def messaging you…</p>
<p>I heard from D that Ivy Day and Illuminations both took place outside yesterday :), but that Commencement was moved to the athletic facility due to today’s rain.</p>
<p>** LiT**, hope your weekend has been glorious – and hearty congrats to your D and all other Smith '11 grads!</p>
<p>Best wishes as well to all the incoming Smithies!</p>
<p>Dang. I don’t know when the last year was when it didn’t rain at all on graduation weekend.</p>
<p>I hope it was wonderful for LiT and her D, whether wet, dry, or just kinda damp.</p>
<p>^ We were fortunate in my D’s year (2006). All events were held outside (although there was a little spritzing/sun shower during some portion of Commencement).</p>
<p>We were there for several commencement weekends previous to hers (because D was in Glee Club which gave a commencement concert so our pickup of her was following that) and I do recall outdoor Ivy Days and Illumination Nights prior to her year. Each time we were there I hoped that we would have good weather for her year. </p>
<p>But in the big picture, other things are, of course, more significant.
I am sure today’s Commencement was immensely meaningful to all those there.</p>
<p>LiT, we were all thinking of you today! Congratulations to your daughter–and to all the other seniors!</p>
<p>So, here goes…
D1 and I arrived in Boston on the Friday where we spent the night at my BiL’s. We left very early the next morning, complete with Atticus, my sister’s large black lab (who, incidently was the star of the show!) and French macaroons smuggled through customs for D2’s favorite profs.
Northampton was grey and quite cold, but the rain held off on Saturday. We managed to find both a parking space and D2, quite a feat I may add, who had just picked up her rose and looked incredibly beautiful and totally hyper. I was particularly moved by the alumnae who seemed more excited than the graduating students, kissing and laughing, proudly showing off babies and funny placards.
We sat in the quad and witnessed the very moving ivy parade. President Christ’s speech about the living chain of Smithies and their commitment to their alma mater was made totally credible by the enthusiasm of the different class reunions as well as by her announcement that Smith had just received a 16 million donation for scholarships and fin aid. Then prizes were announced and the summas received their yellow tassle. It seemed the cut-off line was 3.94 this year, and only 8 students made it.
We recuperated D2 , still looking incredibly beautiful but now totally frozen, met MomTJ’s lovely (and frozen) daughter whom we will be delighted to look after in Paris, and sent D back to her room to change into warmer clothes. We picnicked by the lake, and I then spent the afternoon discovering my D’s Smith: the museum, the libraries, some of her profs, her favorite haunts. Every minute or so, she would meet a friend and there would be hugs and tears and good wishes.
We had a quick and early bite at Osaka’s. As we didn’t have a reservation, we were thrown out quite rapidly (“We have no more desserts, no ,we have no more coffee.”). D was playing in the commencement concert which was excellent, even spectacular by moments. These kids for the most part are not music majors, and their level of accomplishment is awesome. Tiger Mom remark: “Parents, encourage your kids to continue playing in college. The level of pleasure it brings to them and others is incommensurable”. D totally broke down when she cleared her music locker. We had to smile when we saw that she had been listed as ’12 on the program. She showed it to Jonathan Hirsh, the conductor, who hugged her and said “wishful thinking”.
Unfortunately, I had to skip the illuminations as exhaustion had hit big time at that point, but D1 was blown away.
TheDad is absolutely right: ivy day is much more exhilarating than the actual commencement. It was held in the gym because the expected rain had made its appearance. The bag pipes and the Adas with their decorated caps (one said: “pigs CAN fly”) were great, and Sylvia Earle’s speech a perfect blend of humor and intensity, but it was not possible to see much from where we were sitting. We then wandered around in the rain for almost an hour until D found her diploma. They are given random ones and have to make circles, passing them around until they find their own (very chic diplomas, by the way, compared to the toilet paper they send us over here.
D1 and I then collected 3 enormous suitcases we were taking back for D2 ( “Did you pack these bags yourself? Do you know precisely what they contain?” “Euh, yes, sir, of course”), and wearily drove back to Boston for our flight back.
It was totally exhausting and ridiculously short, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I am so proud of what my daughter has accomplished and forever grateful to Smith for the myriad of opportunities and experiences they gave her. GAUDEAMUS.</p>
<p>Lovely! Thank you for posting this. Good luck to you, your family and your daughter. Please keep in touch and let us know all about the wonderful future I know your daughter will have.</p>
<p>As we start this journey to becoming part of the Smith family, I am proud and excited to see my own daughter’s accomplishments over the next four years and beyond.</p>
<p>LiT, thanks for continuing the College Confidential Smith tradition of summarizing the weekend! I’m thrilled that you were able to make it AND enjoy it, despite the weather. I’m with you and TD: Ivy Day is the best part of the weekend. For me, it was a touching reminder that my daughter was a lifelong part of close-knit community.</p>
<p>Here’s to all the Smithies who have been newly launched into the world!</p>
<p>Congrats, sounds like you had a wonderful time! It’s too bad graduation had to be indoors, but it’s really much better to have an outdoor Ivy Day if you can have one or the other. I remember Ivy Day as the most meaningful part of my graduation. It was really the most amazing feeling to know you are part of this great chain of women stretching back over a hundred years, and that they would come from all corners of the globe to participate in Ivy Day and welcome you into their fold was really indescribable. And then, to top it off one of my classmates gave THE MOST MOVING SPEECH EVER about living in Afghanistan under the Taliban and then getting to come to Smith in 2006 and her hopes for post graduation life helping Afghan women. Not a dry eye in the Quad.</p>
<p>Thanks for your wonderfully evocative report,** LiT**. </p>
<p>Watch for pictures of the weekend’s events on the Smith website. Ivy Day is up now, and Illuminations and Commencement are sure to be added soon.</p>
<p>Congrats and best wishes to the Smith Clsss of '11 – and to all those to come (as well as all those of past years)!</p>
<p>LiT, thank you for your thorough recounting so we can share in your joy, pride and gratitude! With your jet lag, I’m impressed you remember so much, but I’m sure it was pure adrenaline; I know it would be for me. (I love your smuggling in the French macaroons!) I really wouldn’t want you to change, but maybe at this point, your nom de plume should be “Found in translat”! Congratulations again to your daughter! I am so thrilled you were able to make it. Vive Smith!</p>
<p>LiT, thank you so much for your report. I’m glad that you got this final “taste” of Smith up close and personal. Prayers and crossed fingers for your ongoing treatment.</p>
<p>Has D2 found a way to stay in the States to obtain a job here or will she be looking in France? </p>
<p>In an odd bit of whatever, one of my D’s friends from Smith is working in Paris for Soci</p>