I'll Drink To That

We were all seated and it was time for the formalities. Speakers are always present at such events and this was no exception.




This year's Honorary Degree Recipient and Commencement Speaker was no other than Jamie Hyneman. He grew up on an apple orchard in Indiana and is now best known as the host of "MythBusters" which is broadcast on the Discovery Channel. My advice to him is to stick to his day job. And that's all I'm going to say about that.




More speaking.




Some of us even listened.




Notice that the weather has cleared and it is finally starting to warm up.


Finally! It's time for conferring the degrees. It looks like the engineers are ready.




It looks like they're ready to celebrate. Engineers are always prepared.




It looks like Dan is ready. Hey, hold on there a second. That is sparkling grape juice isn't it? Of course it is. What was I thinking?




Degree conferred.




Now the business majors were not going to be outdone by the engineers. Oh no. They were going to celebrate like there was no tomorrow.

How you ask?

By throwing baby powder! Take that, engineers.




Katie doesn't look too thrilled at the possibility of being covered in baby powder.




Ready. Set.




Go!




Truth be told we were all crouching behind out chairs waiting for the baby powder to rain down on us. The business majors need to talk to the engineers because the powder just didn't fly the way I think they expected it to.

All the degree majors had their own way of celebrating but at the end of the day they all agreed on this as their final hurrah.

Welcome, Graduates!

Sunday dawned cold and cloudy. We were off to the official graduation that was being held in the football stadium. The proud uncle and dad led the way.




I wasn't kidding about it being cold and cloudy. Look at how we're dressed. Eventually the clouds cleared and the sun came out. It ended up being another beautiful day.




While we waited for graduation to begin Bob and Nancy had time to visit with friends.




Friends and family were in place and we only waiting for the graduates to arrive.




A Villanova nod to Notre Dame. Go Irish!




It looks like the graduates are gathered and ready.




Nancy had forgotten her telephoto lens and had asked me to get some photos of Dan leading the graduates into the stadium. Oh my, the pressure was on.

"There he is! Come over here so you can get a better view."

Where? Where? I don't see him leading the graduates.




Oops. My mistake. I was looking down the wrong aisle.

There's our graduate!






We all stood and watched as the graduates filed in.




Dan turned and held that flag while all of the 2010 Villanova graduates marched to their seats.




What's up with the cell phones? Back in the day we didn't have such things. After we were in our seats we would then spend the rest of the ceremony scanning the crowd looking for our friends and family. It certainly helped pass the time. This generation just calls and says, "I'm here".




In the meantime Dan kept holding his flag.




Eventually all of the graduates were seated and graduation was about to begin.

Baccalaureate

Because of Dan's hard work, campaigning for President and winning, we enjoyed a few perks that weekend. One of the nicer benefits was reserved seating. Nice! I like enjoying someone else's hard work.




More waiting. Katie put the time to good use.




Here's the man of the hour.




Being the president of the student body entails many responsibilities. One of those responsibilities was to address the graduates and families at the beginning of Mass.

It also means standing around and looking presidential. I thought he did well at that.




Dan's getting his last minute instructions before Mass starts.




I wonder what he's thinking about?

How far he's come in the past four years?

How he never wants to forget this moment of this life?

What does his future hold?

Or maybe he's thinking what I'm thinking.



What's for dinner?




Yup, it was dinner. He's trying to beat the rush and texting in his pizza order early. Extra mushrooms for me please.




Let me present the official Welcomer.







Now that his part was done he came down and joined us for Mass. Good thing we saved him a seat.




This was the only time I wished we were inside. I love the smell of incense.




Mass was over and it was time to head to a small gathering of family and friends.




The perfect end to a perfect day.

We Are, We Are, We Are, We Are, We Are The Engineers

The graduates were seated and so were we.




Sitting was a good thing because it seemed to take a long time to get to the Mechanical Engineers. So long that I had a chance to walk around and take some pictures.




Finally! It's the mechanicals turn.




There he is.




It's not official until the photographer takes the picture.




Now that Dan's part was finished we didn't need to pay attention. Sorry other graduates but there are just too many of you to stay that interested for that long.




Some passed the time taking photos




of others who were visiting.




Like I said it started to get a little long. Eventually that part was finished and it was time for the engineers to take an oath. New and old. So much to Sarah's chagrin her dad made her stand and take the oath with him. Be proud, Sarah. You're an engineer!

I don't know the exact words of the oath that was taken that day but I do know the words of the engineering oath that Michigan Tech engineers sing at every opportunity. Preferably with a beer in one hand. That's what makes it official.

We are, we are, we are, we are, we are the engineers.
We can, we can, we can, we can drink all of forty beers.
Drink up, drink up, drink up, drink up, and come along with us,
for we don’t give a damn for any man who don’t give a damn for us.

My father was a miner on the upper Malamute.
My mother was a hostess in the house of ill repute.
And at the tender age of three, they threw me on my ear,
And there was nothing left for me to do but become an engineer.

We are, we are, we are, we are, we are the engineers.
We can, we can, we can, we can drink all of forty beers.
Drink up, drink up, drink up, drink up, and come along with us,
for we don’t give a damn for any man who don’t give a damn for us.


Villanova engineers don't sing their oath. Or hold a beer in their hand while reciting their oath. For some reason it just isn't as much fun as the Tech oath.





It was over, finally, and the bagpipers led the engineers out of the tent.




I really tried to find Dan as he came out of the tent. Really I did but somehow I missed him. This guy will have to do. You'll have to use your imagination but I'm sure Dan looked as happy as this guy did.




Our hats are off to you, Dan, for a job well done.