Danny Zeng | May 22, 2013
I spent the last week or so with some of my closest friends in college. Many have graduated over the weekend. Yes I’ll admit it. Part of me feels sad, but it is in the selfish sense that I know that they won’t be around next year for me when I need them (and yes, that’s what true friends are for; they are the chosen family, support system, the wolf pack, insert your own descriptive phrases that capture the same sentiment). Another part of me simply feels numbing: perhaps it’s the drag of the school year, pending end-of-the-semester to-do lists, the stress of dysfunctional politics – OK it’s probably just me…, or simply fatigue and lethargy. I have been sleep deprived from playing way too much Nintendo 64 – that one of us purchased from a Craigslist guy (mhmm) – where I played more tennis (umm Mario tennis) than all the years I’ve been in college. My sleep schedule has been more off-cycle than usual as result of 1) absentmindedly pushing to maximize my time with my graduating seniors; and 2) obsessively glued to Netflix watching House of Cards (that will be a different post in and of itself). I’ve been undoubtedly gaining weight due to poor diet and little exercise, which probably contributed to my general fatigue. This reminds me the importance of self-care for all my graduating seniors! Please eat healthy, exercise often, and sleep plenty. Your health is your seed capital for success in the enterprise of life. I think the most apt description of my current state of mind is faithful optimism, simply having faith in the notion that people and things will turn out to be OK.
My friend walks across stage for her graduation in Government
A roaring sea of black gowns and decorated caps, competitive rounds of whoas and ahhhs for graduates walking across stage, chatty professors in their scholastic robes, clacking of high heels (or the swag of boots trotting about ), layers upon layers of makeup – for the gazillion amateur clicks of professional camera shutters, the pestering yet loving entourage of parents, siblings, extended families and friends, the dormant yet nonetheless tangible mixed emotions of happiness, apprehension, relief, earned success, camaraderie, reciprocity and gratitude have all filled the sultry summer air on commencement night with heavy hearts.
Longhorn families
Think about all the people who ever supported our grads, financially, emotionally, and psychologically. For some, their kids’ graduation from college is the last chapter in what sometimes seems to be a never-ending, very sad, handwritten book (…) With two decades of hard work behind them in raising these graduates, a million-dollar investment, the parents, no doubt, becomes highly emotional during this thoroughfare. After all, college graduation serves as the closure. In fact, if you’d have the same opportunity of witnessing more than 10,000 people sharing that moment together like I did at the UT Austin commencement, then you’d appreciate the rational ubiquity of emotional outbursts.
Commencement 2013 at the University of Texas at Austin | May 18th, 2013
The minute the fireworks shot up into the Austin sky, my heart skipped a beat, and my eyes grew watery. Can this be it for my friends? It seems only yesterday when I met each and every one of them. Those moments of fateful encounters – some might say chance occurrences, but I never found that proposition convincing – seem so removed from the larger reality of graduation, a milestone, a crown achievement, a relief, a “meh.” “One more year this will be me,” I thought. I wondered what each of them was thinking at the time. In the back of my mind, I was thinking, “graduation can’t all just be the rah-rah cheers, fancy restaurants, loud music, and bottomless shots (well…)”
That moment – that night really – I realized what a true excitement it is for the University to graduate more than 8,000 Longhorns into the world to change it for the better! This is a cause for celebration! Graduates are challenged with the task to do just that: make the world a better place. Or in the case of UT, “to transform lives for the benefit of society.” I can’t wait to see what each of them will accomplish in the near and distant future. Among my circle of graduating seniors, there will be a lawyer, a doctor, an educator, an engineer, a business analyst, and a community leader. Each has the ability, the heart, and the humor to change the world in his/her own way. How ordinary an occurrence but extraordinary a thought!
I have nothing but the best wishes and my most deep-felt prayers for each of them as they enter the real world. It will be an adventure of a lifetime, literally. Like I alluded before, I don’t believe in chance encounters. I fundamentally believe there is a reason that God has put them in my life. I believe God has a purpose for each one of them. And I believe that God will care for and guide them through life’s many trials. Not only do I believe so, I know so. My faith gives me both optimism and relief: I know they are in good hands. These people are my chosen family in college. They will remain my chosen family in life and for life. I am sincerely excited and extremely optimistic for this group of passive-aggressive jokesters, high achievers, and leaders. The first generation of Waterford crowd had graduated. I shall leave them all with the following passage from one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, Oh the Places You’ll Go!, that my fifth grade teacher had once read to us 🙂 – you’d never go wrong re-reading Dr. Seuss.
Rockstars
On and on you will hike
and I know you’ll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.
You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
To answer my own question, of course, this is not it for my friends. They have a long way to go. There will be lots of excitements, triumphs, disappointments, and yes failures; but the joy of friendship will live on. And just for the record: I don’t really suffer from post-graduation stress disorder (this is not real). I’m simply trying to treasure and preserve the memories that I’ve made with these peeps over the last few years. For these grads – Hank, Shakshi, Wesley, Nayana, Katie, and Simon – who are already changing the world and will continue to do so, I am faithfully optimistic.
Love,
Danny
Time Out 