Ends/ Means

Graduation: there is much to say. Commencement weekend was beautiful. Too beautiful I might actually risk ruining it with words... this is only a bit of what is floating around my head.

Commencement, Baccaleaureate, the funny cap, ill-fitting gown, shiny cords, and diploma are "ends." They are certainly important, but completely unrepresentative of the means (how I got to the photographs above). The means were less shiny; more real.

Being real, my eighth and final semester of college was the most difficult of them all. It was epically long and exhausting. It was physically/emotionally/spiritually draining until the very last moment. I am much too close to begin drafting my reflective memoir. But I think, when I look back on this strange chapter of my life, I'll say I learned about the means. I learned about getting through a class period (not a course), a page (not a paper), and a day (not a semester).

I am grateful to everyone involved in the many steps I took towards graduation-- the means. My diploma pales in comparison to the warm and generous wisdom of my friends, family, professors, coaches and mentors. My only thought for repaying you is to lead an important life. Not a life of being important... I have heard that is overrated. An important life, embracing the full range of human experience and making life better for others. I will carry you with me.