Adam and Tiffy

Today is the 253rd Commencement at the University of Pennsylvania. I work in IT at Penn and this will be the sixth one that’s taken place since I’ve been there. I’ve never attended a ceremony, but I’ve seen it from afar and I’ve listened to the speakers via a live stream broadcast across the Internet thanks to the fine work of some of my colleagues. I don’t know any graduates who will be in today’s ceremonies, but I am reminded that there are different rituals that take place outside of the event itself that we share or will observe together:

• Campus will continue to be tidied by our Facilities department up until the last moment. (Prepare to dodge a sidewalk sweeper.)
• We all hope for no rain. (It rained during my Commencement. There’s no sound like the groan of 400 people simultaneously sitting down in chairs with little puddles in them. That’s except, of course, for the sound after they’re made to stand up, retrieve diplomas, and sit down … again.)
• It will be crowded everywhere, and we will all make do with longer lines. (I’ll get coffee early.)
• There will be scores of confused looking family, friends, and well-wishers who need directions.
• There will be a lot of people on the street in caps and gowns making final adjustments. (You look fine. Thanks for wearing something underneath.)
• There will be a lot of happy, nervous, proud, and excited expressions on people’s faces.

I cannot say anything new about the bittersweetness of this moment to come, that nexus of an ending and a beginning, except to say that life has a continuity to it, and this is one special moment among many, and that I personally have looked at it differently over the passage of time.

Usually, on this day above all others, I reflect upon why I work where I do. My professional career has consisted mostly of information technology work in support of academics and administrators. My work has never been central to “the mission of the institution,” that is, I don’t teach, and I don’t do research.

What I do, however, is believe in the product of this institution and others like it. I believe it sells something and provides something of almost incalculable value, although I’m sure that tuition bills make it seem like someone has spent an awful lot of time calculating. I believe in the transformative power of education to enlighten society, provide opportunities, and shape people into productive contributors who can, sometimes in the short term and sometimes in the long term, make our world better, richer, and more interesting.

And I have a good feeling coming into work on a day like today when I see that happening.