Graduation

Posted on May 30, 2020

So I graduated yesterday. It still doesn't feel quite real. The fact that commencement was done online certainly didn't help. I appreciated the sentiment, but the execution was lacking, and the whole experience felt "meh." I had the stream running on my secondary monitor, and there was never a moment when I considered the stream interesting enough to move to my primary monitor. Even putting my diplomas on the blockchain was more exciting than anything that happened during commencement, which is pretty sad since I'm a huge blockchain skeptic.

Some specific annoyances:

• Speeches are way worse when streamed, since plenty of (possibly better) speeches are a YouTube link away
• Some art assets were awful and looked like they were supposed to be placeholders
• The clips of random strangers saying congratulations reminded me too much of the final episode of Evangelion

However, it's not like I have any suggestions on how to make a digital commencement that can actually be considered "good." In my opinion, both cancelling commencement and postponing it to a later date would've been better options. Oh well.

It does feel strange now that I'm finished with school. Obviously, I've gotten used to being in school and all the things that come with it, such as final exams and summer vacations. It's hard for me to imagine that this is the last summer vacation that I'll ever have "for free." I'm sure I'll get used to it soon enough, but it's still a bit sad nonetheless.