It may have snowed on the graduation ceremony where I received my bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin. It was a mid-year graduation, in December, but I wasn’t there so I don’t know. I worked that day and decided to skip the ceremony, which I have since regretted.
So when son Sam received his bachelor’s degree, yesterday, it was reminiscent of that December day. The day’s high, 45 degrees, was one degree off the coldest high temp ever, and there were actually snow flakes floating about for a few minutes. But it wouldn’t have missed it for the world, winter coat and all.
We met Sam at his apartment then walked over to the Camp Randall Field House for the School of Letters and Science reception. There were obligatory photos and a speech. “You know how to learn,” Letters and Science Dean John Karl Scholz told the graduates.
Then it was on to Camp Randall stadium for the 167th graduation for the University of Wisconsin.
UW Chancellor Rebecca Blank had three pieces of advice for the class of 2016:
- Keep Taking Risks – “Things that seem hard at first get easier when you stick with them,” she said.
- Keep Your Curiosity Alive – “In addition to your UW diploma, your curiosity is the most valuable think you bring to this world,” she said.
- Stay Focused on What Matters – “Ignore the background noise,” she counselled. “It takes practice. But you’re going to go further if you’ve got goals.”
“Your education is only just begun,” Blank concluded, without the obvious reference to the actual meaning of the word commencement. Along the same line, Regents president Regina Millner referenced “A finish line that’s really a starting gate.”
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who led the Badgers to victory in the first Big Ten Championship football game in 2011, was introduced as an athlete and philanthropist, with a reference to his Why Not You Foundation.
“I’ve been in this end zone before, but not in a uniform this ridiculous,” he quipped. Resisting typical graduation speech formulas or light weight advice, Wilson instead used some of the challenges in his own life and career to offer some useful and practical advice on how to respond when life tells you no.
- “When life tells you no, ask yourself, ‘What am I capable of,'” he said, and use that to decide whether to change plans or stay the course.
- When life tells you no, stay ready. During his baseball career he spent one whole game on the bench, only to be called in to pinch hit in the 10th inning, where he smashed the game-winning home run because he was ready.
- When life tells you no, find a way to keep things in perspective. “If you do, life has a way of turning a no into a yes,” Wilson said, recalling how his North Carolina coach’s decision to call on another quarterback led to his decision to come to Wisconsin and get a second chance at leading another college football team.
Wilson, who is well known for his game preparation, concluded: “I don’t believe in luck, go make it happen.”
After Wilson’s speech, when a few scattered snowflakes had fallen, the ceremony was about three quarters of the way done. Then everyone got a chance to warm up for a few minutes during a short observance of “Jump Around,” the famous football tradition.
“We’ve all hiked up Bascom Hill on colder says than this one,” quipped Dave Florin, of the Alumni Association, adding that alumni status is “something special that bonds each of us and it lasts forever.”
Some final words from Bhupinder Manhani, senior class vice president, who said: “You’ve heard ‘Change the world.’ That’s not a suggestion but a responsibility.”
On Wisconsin!
Here’s how the Wisconsin State Journal covered graduation.
Inside the stadium, with lots of time to wait, the Jumbotron provided great entertainment. The interviews with seniors were interesting. People posing with Abe Lincoln in the background, also interesting.
Graduation video:
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