It's official. Saturday, during an otherwise ordinary and forgettable graduation ceremony at Texas Woman's University, I was announced as Dr. Ann Marie Olson and "hooded." The best part of the day was that I was finally able to forge a connection between two seemingly disparate groups of people in my life--my family and my graduate school colleages. I enjoyed being able to introduce one group to the other, then sit back in amused pleasure as they bragged on me to each other. Such an odd ritual, graduation. The regalia, designed for warmth in cold, drafty Middle Aged halls, has outlived it usefulness and practicality, especially on a nearly 90-degree Texas morning when even the air conditioning can't keep pace with the rising temperatures. Still, we wear it for ritual, for dignity at a ceremony intended to be formal and auspicious (a fact that escapes most of the screaming, air-horn-blowing audience).

posted by Annie 11:50 AM

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