Sitting in a classroom with 20 or so other soon to be Fairfield University graduates early on Sunday morning, reality sunk in. We were actually about to graduate. I was less than 48 hours away from starting a new job as the reporter covering Fairfield for Main Street Connect.
Waking up at 7:30 a.m. is always a difficult task for a college student, but combine that early hour with a week filled with senior festivities, including a commencement ball, family dance, trip to Mohegan Sun and picnic at Holiday Hill, and not one person in the classroom looked awake.
But, despite our sleepy eyes, we were soon on our way across campus, walking through rows of cheering professors, onto Bellarmine Lawn, passing family and friends on the way in. In a daze, it seemed impossible that what had seemed like the distant future at the start of the year had finally arrived. While I felt ready to leave and move on, to start the next chapter of my life, I was not looking forward to leaving behind my friends and the family I had found at Fairfield over the four years there.
Despite the sadness of the closing of one phase of our lives, everyone in attendance was ready to celebrate the success of making it through four years. We had endured difficult times, from minor bumps in the road like failed tests or late papers, to tragedies like the death of a beloved classmate, Kristen Duhamel, in a car accident early in sophomore year. We had also had a great amount of amazing times. Together we had bonded, grown into adults together and made more memories than we probably ever will in a short four-year period throughout the rest of our lives.
We heard the speakers words, from the university president, Father Jeffrey von Arx, to valedictorian Christopher Staysniak, to commencement speaker Katherine Lapp, a 1978 graduate and now a vice president at Harvard, loud and clear: it is our time now to go out and make a difference in the world.
They all drove home the same message, that our generation has a special optimism that is unique in this world. Despite a recession, tragedies and wars, we are entering the world knowing that we will bring about change, not just hoping we will.
And from the friends I made at Fairfield and those I was able to share this special part of my life with, I know that my fellow classmates will make a difference.
People are finding jobs, going on to give back to the world through service and continuing their education. Myself, I am joining a team of dedicated journalists and innovators, trying to change the news business for the better. I have the chance to shape the way that news is delivered and enter on the ground level of a company that has optimism that mirrors that felt at my graduation.
I know others in my class will have the same opportunities to make change in whatever field or service they enter.
In the end, I sat in my seat on Bellarmine Lawn as the sun broke through an overcast sky moments before we would receive our diplomas and thought about the great memories and friends that I have made. Time spent at Fairfield beach, in the townhouses, in the dorms, in the student newspaper office, and yes, even in the classroom.
Those memories will be with me forever and I thank everyone who made my time at Fairfield so special.
There is something about a major change in your life that makes you think, that allows you to open up your mind and have a few brief moments of clarity. The final moment in a mostly sleepless, draining and exciting 48 hours came at 8:30 in the morning, sitting in the Main Street Connect office, thinking back on graduation and realizing that I am no longer a college student, but a member of the real world. And you know what, I dont know if the real world is ready for the Fairfield University class of 2010, but I know we are ready. We are a special group and graduation was a special moment I will never forget.
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