Ty's Graduation - U of O

We hopped in the car early Sunday morning to make the nine hour drive to Eugene.  Ty won't be finished with school until December (3 classes left), but he was walking in graduation on Monday.  Ty would never participate in graduation, and he would never tell us that he was walking, but he did!  His motivation is sad.  His best friend and study-buddy lost her fiance a couple months ago.  He died in his sleep, and they may never know the cause.  One of Ty's best qualities is that he is a loyal, trustworthy, and top-notch friend. He's stepping up to support his friend.  They made plans to sit together.

When we arrived we made plans to take him to dinner.  We could go anywhere, but since it was Game 5 of the NBA championship we ended up at The Wild Duck, which was a loud sports pub with lots and lots of TVs, and pretty good food.  During commercials we headed back to his apartment to watch the end of the game, which sadly the Cavs lost.  It amazes me how much Ty knows about sports and the players.  I always thought he might end up working at ESPN.  If not, he would do well working in an environment where the clientele liked to "talk sports" all the time.  It had been a long day, so he took us up to campus and showed us where graduation would be and where to park.  He handed over the gown that he borrowed from a buddy that graduated last year, for me to iron, and we headed back to get in bed.  Just sitting in a car sure makes for a long day.

Ty went to work in the lab (taking care of a colony of leaf-eating ants) early that morning and had an appointment for more blood work and a shot, so we met him about 30 minutes before graduation with his wrinkle free gown.  I just wanted to hear them say his name, listen to an interesting speaker and get a couple good pictures.  None of those things worked out, however, it was a beautiful day and very entertaining graduation.

Oregon, and especially Eugene, has the reputation of being lay-back, hippie, and casual to the extreme.  Ty doesn't like Eugene, but it's alarming how well he fits in.  It will be good when he moves away from that culture.  He showed up in tennis shoes, shorts, and his Tennessee Titans jersey.  I like his hair longer, but his hair wasn't good.  It needs to be cut by a professional, or maybe just combed.  I thought I could get a good shot of him without showing his legs or shoes.  I didn't want his grandpa to see the tennis shoes. Ty doesn't really believe in photos, so this is the best I could get:

I think he's cute, not polished and professional looking, but cute.

All graduation ceremonies took place outside at different open spaces on campus. The biology department held theirs in front of the Knight library, there was another ceremony going on behind the library, and one behind us facing the opposite direction.  There were no signs or information anywhere.  The people behind us realized they were at the wrong graduation right at the beginning and I'm sure they weren't alone.  This is a blurry shot, but it's perfectly acceptable to bring your dogs to graduation:

The library.  We sat two rows behind the graduates (in the shade!).

I liked this above the library door.  The rest of the quote is above the other entrance.

We had front row seats and did a lot of observing before the ceremony.  The professors were asking around to know how to wear their robes and doctorate scarves.  There was one lady that was in charge of making things run smoothly, but they needed more than one person.  They had printed programs and one person made a feeble attempt to pass them out.  Terry found the box and picked up ours.  Others followed suit.  When the graduates walked in, they started down the wrong row of chairs and had to circle around to sit in the row behind them in order.  Then a guy had his chair collapse and break. He ended up on the ground and the whole back of his robe was torn open.  They grabbed a chair for him from the back row, threw the broken one in the scrubs, and about 10 minutes later came with safety pins to repair his robe.

The abandoned chair

Blurry again, but this was the lady in charge pinning the gown back together.  We were suppose to watching or listening to what was going on in the ceremony, but this was memorable.

The only speakers were the biology department's co-valedictorians.  The spoke together and had prepared a short, sort of funny, uninspiring address.  They were smart, but didn't have much wisdom to impart.

This is the head of the Biology Department.  He was at the podium for the entire program. He did the welcome, introductions, gave out special awards, said something about each graduate, conferred the degrees, and gave the closing comments.  He was in khakis and this green shirt that wasn't even tucked in.  Doesn't he look like he just returned from his Hawaiian vacation?  

Where are his robes?

One of the professors that was suppose to help hand out the degrees didn't show.  They announced his name and he didn't come to the stage.  The other guy just had to do it solo. The graduates could sit in any order they wanted and when they came on the stage, they came to a mic (that was way to short for all of them and never adjusted) said their name and where they were from.  Then the man pictured above would say something about each one of them.  Only about 5 of the 86 graduates knew what they were doing.  One was going to dental school, one finished in December and had a job, and a few knew where they were going to graduate school.  Many planned to "take a year" and travel, or work on applications to medical school or a graduate program, or just figure out a plan.

Ty on stage.  "He plans to work for a government agency or in the private sector."
He covered all his bases.  I'm glad he plans on working.

Almost ready to receive his empty diploma cover.

Blurry return to his seat next to his friend Choi.

We had just a few minutes with Ty after the ceremony.  He was going back to work at the lab and we were going to head back to Boise.  There was a reception for everyone afterward and even though I'm still trying to lose weight, I had a piece of cake - so did Terry, my health coach.  I wanted to take part in this whole experience.

I will not comment on these two pictures taken in those few precious minutes that we had to congratulate him and say goodbye:

Then we followed the duck prints past the Pioneer Cemetery (on campus) and six blocks down Harris Street to our prime parking spot.  It was a graduation that fits Eugene, and Ty, and I'm so glad we went.

  

Business Building

Kind of weird.