Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Is Something Worth Doing When Nobody Knows You're Doing It?


Today was my "unofficial" graduation from New York University. I say unofficial, because in order to make every graduating student feel a little special, NYU holds two seperate graduations: one for each school, where the students name is called out and they get to fell individually appreciated, if only for a fleeting 20 seconds; and another for the entire university of 6,000 students (usually held in the beautiful Washington Square Park, but lucky us, this year, we get to schlep all the way to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx because WSQ is "under construction" - sidebar: how does one "construct" a park, I wonder?).

So essentially, I am unofficially a graduate of New York University's class of 2011. Before, during and after the ceremony, my smart phone allowed me to notice several excited tweets, Facebook status updates and photographs chronicling these special moments from several of my friends. I wonder then, if graduation would be any less special if you didn't have the ability to tell literally every single person in the world with access to the internet about it?

Isn't this the very foundation of 21st century socialization? People take pictures and update blogs wherever they go, as if to advertise to the universe: "Hey, I participate in the world!"

I wonder what it was like to graduate for yourself, with the satisfaction of 4 years well spent, full of fun, friends and learning, and not for the pomp.

... although I am excited for this fabulous man's commencement address. And yes, I will post pictures of him from the event on my Facebook. And yes, I embrace hypocrisy. Shut up.


Next stop, the real world. Shudder.