Commencement

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Better Late Than Never – Part 2: Commencement

August 15, 2013 in Scott's Blog by Scott Yim | 8 comments

It’s hard to believe that summer is over, and all of the new freshmen will be arriving on campus soon. It’s weird to think I won’t be going back to Harvard in September to start school. I will, however, be back on Labor Day to serve as a marshal for Freshman Convocation, which is a fairly new tradition that started with my class. It is essentially a welcoming ceremony, and the only time that a Harvard College class is together in its entirety with the exception of Commencement. Both Convocation and Commencement are nice bookends to a Harvard experience, and I’m definitely jealous of all of the students just starting their journey. If you couldn’t tell by my (still) blogging, I miss it a lot! I imagine I’ll be posting very infrequently from now on, but I thought I’d post this recap I promised several weeks ago.

Commencement is the most wonderful, ludicrous, over-the-top experience. In the weeks leading up to it, I had several people tell me that it would be a crazy, extravagant ceremony, but words simply don’t do it justice. I know it sounds like it’s really far away, but senior year will sneak up on you! As a Class Marshal (which is basically the equivalent of a high school class officer or board member), I was lucky enough to stand at the front of the procession line of faculty, honorees, and special guests. We all stood there, ecstatic, taking photos of each other and of the incredible view we had–both of the stage in front of us and the sea of people behind us. I’m not sure if it’s true, but apparently there were over 32,000 people in Harvard Yard that day.

Commencement is broken up into three parts–the Morning Exercises, Diploma Presentations at the Houses, and the Afternoon Exercises (Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association).

The morning was my favorite. The ceremonies involved a man whose sole responsibility was to call the exercises to order by shouting at the top of his lungs and banging a long metal (?) rod on the ground. He did the same thing to close the ceremonies. He wore a large top hat and had the loudest voice I’ve ever heard. If I remember correctly, he spoke in an accent and appeared as if he could have arrived to Cambridge by horse. Beyond him, there were some incredible speeches that you can YouTube, but the most surreal part was being in front of all of the honorees, who are the leaders in their fields. The honorees included some incredible scientists, philanthropists, and historians, as well as Oprah Winfrey and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

The ceremony is really awesome–each dean from the different schools stands up and delivers brief remarks, which is followed by that respective school standing up and President Faust using the words “with the power invested in me” and “confer upon you” (or something to that “official” effect) to grant degrees. The College came last. It is tradition for the Class Marshals and Summa Cum Laude graduates to stand on the steps of the stage, directly in front of the Dean, President, and special guests as our degrees are conferred upon us. While I didn’t cry that entire week, this is where I cracked…a bit. It was very emotional standing up there in front of people like Oprah, and the whole 5 minutes was quite symbolic. I teared up and tried to hold it in, but when I looked over at my friend and fellow Class Marshal, Nadia, who was fanning her face with tears welling up in her eyes, I also started to cry. The best part was when Oprah saw Nadia, stood up, and motioned to hug her. That’s the point when waterworks began for several people and we all started hugging President Faust and Oprah, which was a crazy moment that I still don’t believe happened. Speaking with and meeting Oprah felt really out of body, like a dream. I know I’ll never forget it, and we got a pretty cool picture out of it, too!

Scott Yim, Nina Yancy, Julie Barzilay with Oprah at Harvard Commencement

The Oprah encounters didn’t end there. After we received our diplomas at our Houses, it was time to run over to the the Afternoon Exercises. I was lucky to have a seat on stage, but little did I know that I was going to be directly behind Oprah. I ended up being on camera nearly throughout her speech, which meant all of my stupid, goofy, and animated faces were documented. I’ve started to call it the image (s) that I will never escape. Footage or pictures of me behind Oprah have found themselves on MSNBC, ABC, various news channels, Pinterest, and all over my Facebook, among other places, I’m sure.

Just me and Oprah…

I really wish someone had told me I would be in the camera shot the whole time, but I guess it’s kind of hilarious and I guess it could be worse. I keep telling myself I’m lucky I didn’t fall asleep or yawn obnoxiously or something. After all, we were all up really late the night before Commencement, hanging out with friends, so it was very much a realistic possibility. I also had friends tell me I should have made ugly faces or have done something outrageous to catch peoples’ attention more. They said I had the best opportunity to troll behind Oprah and become a Buzzfeed sensation. Better luck next time? Regardless, if you haven’t seen the video, I’ve included it below, in case you want to see any of my ridiculous reactions and faces.

I’ll hopefully be able to write about some alumni events in New York, as well as Convocation. I’ll be sure to take lots of photos and write to give you a sense of what life as an alum is like! Signing off for now, but leaving you with an awesome photo 🙂

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Better Late Than Never (A Commencement Recap) – Part 1: Class Day

July 20, 2013 in Scott's Blog by Scott Yim | 1 comment

It’s been a little over a month! So much has happened between Commencement and transitioning into the “real world” that it’s hard to remember every detail of the past couple of weeks. However, I’ll touch on some of the most memorable parts of my Commencement experience that made it so much more than anything I could have ever imagined. Here’s Part 1: Class Day.

As a member of the Senior Class Committee (SCC), I was able to help plan many amazing events for the Class of 2013. In particular, I was in charge of organizing Class Day, the annual gathering of the graduating senior class, as well as Harvard faculty, Housemasters, and the students’ family, friends, and loved ones. The ceremony is about two hours long, and features remarks from the Dean of the College, the Harvard Alumni Association President, graduating members of the Class of 2013 (4 selected student speakers, as well as student leaders on the SCC), and a special guest speaker. Myself and two other members of the SCC, Emily and Rebecca, worked together all year long to make sure this day was as special as possible.

The guest speaker whom we invited was Soledad O’Brien ’88. An incredibly accomplished journalist (she reports for CNN and HBO to name two) and philanthropist (she has a foundation with her husband that sends promising young women to college), we invited her because she pursued her passions of storytelling and followed an untraditional path after college. Today, she’s an incredible journalist, who has traveled the world telling stories of extraordinary people and circumstances. She sounds pretty awesome, right? Just wait until you hear the speech she delivered to our class.

Class Day Committee with Soledad O’Brien

Every year on the day of the event, the SCC is lucky enough to have a luncheon with the speaker. However, because these people are quite busy individuals, we were told that we shouldn’t necessarily expect to spend a lot of time with Soledad. And in past years, students have only been able to take one photograph with the celebrity. I can’t say that I was surprised when Soledad didn’t conform to these expectations. She arrived to the luncheon on time, and immediately started introducing herself to students. I thought this was weird because we obviously all knew who she was, yet she clearly didn’t think she was above shaking our hands and telling us her name just like any other person. Soledad was affable and down to earth. She was incredibly patient as she took individual photos with every single Committee member, which probably took a half hour–something that many people with an accomplishment list as long as hers probably wouldn’t stand for. She was quite the class act, and we all fell in love with her as soon as we met her. However, the most magical part of the afternoon happened when she took the stage. Soledad delivered a deeply personal and touching speech. I actually just watched it again last week, and despite the cliche message that one might expect from a Commencement address, her delivery was one of the most genuine things I have ever heard. See below. It truly made our Class Day one I will never forget, and she immediately became a role model whom I’m proud to be able to call our Class Day guest speaker. I know I’ll remember her speech forever.

Meeting Soledad O’Brien!

Presenting Soledad with a little gift from the Class of 2013 Senior Class Committee

Me and Soledad

Soledad’s speech (Keynote Address):

As Second Marshal (the equivalent of Vice President of my class–you see, Harvard has all of these official names, but it all means the same thing. Tuh-MAY-toe, tuh-MAH-to), I had the honor of closing our Class Day exercises. Speaking in front of an audience of 10,000 was incredible, especially looking out and seeing my family and friends in the sea of faces. It is definitely a moment I will cherish because I don’t think that’ll happen ever again.

My speech (Closing Remarks):

Keep an eye out for Part 2: Commencement. It’ll feature a special woman named…Oprah!

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Senior Week Recap

June 2, 2013 in Scott's Blog by Scott Yim | 1 comment

Last week was Senior Week, which operates a lot like a high school senior week — a week of fun and memorable events just for seniors! My senior week in high school involved a Blue Man Group show, an honors and awards banquet, prom, senior breakfast and yearbook signing, and Relay for Life. Senior Week at Harvard is pretty similar, and I thought I would share our schedule events below:

Sunday, May 19 – Six Flags
Monday, May 20 – Scavenger Hunt
Tuesday, May 21 – Moonlight Cruise
Wednesday, May 22 – Senior Talent Show
Thursday, May 23 – Luau & Last Chance Dance
Friday, May 24 – Beach Day
Saturday, May 25 – Senior Soiree
Sunday, May 26 – Senior Olympics & BBQ

With friends for Senior Olympics!

I’ll be sure to post some videos from the Senior Talent Show as soon as we get them. We are planning to post them on our official Harvard 2013 YouTube channel. I did a hip-hop routine with Expressions Dance Company — we closed the show! It was so cool to perform on Sanders Theatre’s stage before graduating. Definitely one of the highlights of the entire week.

My favorite event was the Scavenger Hunt. I was one of the Senior Class Committee (SCC) members who planned it, and it was a lot of fun. Just as an FYI, the SCC is a board of just under 30 members of the senior class who plan events for our last year in college and make sure the transition to alumni life is as smooth as possible. The SCC tries to ensure that students remain connected to Harvard. Despite not participating in the Scavenger Hunt, my friend Nina and I got to make up all of the tasks and help score as people sent in their hilarious pictures and videos. We sent our peers off with over 60 tasks around campus and Boston, including taking pictures with tourists, conga lining down Newbury Street, and running around from freshman dorm to upperclassman house. There were some creative takes on many of the items on the list. It was pretty awesome to see how dedicated (and fast) people were. Two groups even got a Nobel Prize winner to do the dougie with them, which was a task that had one of the largest point values. We also didn’t think anyone would actually be able to do it!

SCC with our best blue steel faces!

Nina and I on Scavenger Hunt day!

It’s such a different feeling being on campus with nothing to do and a goal of simply having fun. I think every class should have a week dedicated to themselves at the end of the year, but perhaps that would make the final Senior Week less special. And of course, all good things must come to an end. Senior Week has come and gone, with a quick turnaround to Commencement Week, which included some of the most memorable and magical days of my life. Commencement warrants its own post entirely, so I will make sure I do that sometime soon. To give you a preview — I had lunch with Soledad O’Brien; I cried in front of, talked to, and hugged President Faust, Dean Hammonds, and Oprah Winfrey; and, most importantly, was awarded my diploma surrounded by my family and friends. There were so many emotions running through my head and it all happened too quickly. Luckily, it was well documented in photos, which I will post in my next blog entry.

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Post-Graduate Life: An Italian Family & Yoga on the Grass

June 6, 2012 in Alumni Blogs by npadilla | 2 comments

Hi everyone!

 

My apologies for the sudden disappearance for the last few weeks: with post-graduation festivities and settling into summer housing and programs, things have just begun to smooth out.

 

My time as a student at Harvard may be over now (at least as an undergraduate), but that doesn’t mean I’ve let go of Harvard Square and the Harvard community so easily. This summer I’ll be participating in two programs in Cambridge, MA in conjunction with Harvard College: Harvard-Karma Yoga Community Yoga Teacher Training Certification Program (which I’m in the midst of right now), and a research fellowship with Harvard’s Schlesinger Library (which I will begun right after my teacher training is done).

 

Before I get into the amazing Harvard-Karma program and what its like beginning summer in Boston with a bunch of yogis, I wanted to give a quick update on the graduation festivities!

 

Graduation week (May 21st to the 24th) flew by, attributably largely—I believe—to the fact that I had 10 family members staying with me and touring Boston…

With my grandparents peering out to sea

My mum & dad at the wharf 

…and Harvard together.

Outside the freshman dining hall (Annenberg)

My aunt and her boyfriend hiding from the rain as we tour Harvard

Some of my family, such as my grandparents, had never been to Boston before and it was great taking the time to re-explore this place in potentially my last summer here. We even were able to cook a full family meal together and it almost made up for missing Thanksgiving these last four years! A child of Italian heritage, pasta, bruschetta, and cannoli’s flowed plentiful from the kitchen.

Many cooks in the kitchen, with my brother Adam and mum

A real Italian-style feast

My second family who has graciously allowed me to stay through the summer: my friend Dylan and his mum Pia

Graduation itself seemed to take place in the span of two. Wednesday was Class Day, which focused on just the Harvard Undergraduates graduating complete with hilarious speakers (Andy Samberg and Barney Frank) and four great student speakers as well. The whole event was less formal and featured a lovely pre-picnic before the speakers.

With the boyfriend before senior picnic

Senior friends at senior picnic

Commencement day was on Thursday and began early at 6am with a Senior Breakfast, church service, and was filled with tradition at every turn—everything from men in top hats to a full speech given in Latin! It was a whole day affair, but the ritual of it all was amazing to witness—traditions that have been around for hundreds of years it really makes you feel part of something larger than yourself.

Note the sports-announcer-esqu explanation of commencement and its many traditions

All of Harvard Universities’ schools from the Law School to the Business School to us undergraduates was presented and united together on Thursday as each of our respective school deans declared we had met the requirements to graduate and each graduating class broke our into much deserved cheers. After a final song from the choir and the local sheriff declare the event over, we all marched the deep drum of the Harvard band out to our undergraduate house. Once there we received our diplomas with family and friends in company: a perfect ending to a beautiful day.

 Bright and early on commencement day!

With my blockmate, Anita, at our house’s diploma ceremony

Diploma officially in hand!

When Friday morning rolled around, I was sad to bid farewell to my family members but was able to find solace in my new endeavor—training to be a certified yoga teacher. A recent program began between Harvard University and Karma Yoga studio in Cambridge where students received discounted 200-hour-certification in exchange for teaching yoga for free to underserved populations in our local community. I truly believe in the healing potential of yoga and meditation, and in its ability to show individuals that they can each become self-empowered—that we all have that potential within us!

 The whole group: Om Shanti~

I am truly grateful to be part of such a great community and to learn so much about myself and from others post-graduation. As many of my Harvard friends left town, it was great to be able to truly find friends and encouragement in this new program.

Teaching each other

Learning & growing together

…And jumping off the footbridge into the Charles River together…!!

Summer so far has been beautiful, if occasionally rainy, and I’m using the opportunity to take advantage of my last few months in Boston—exploring local farmers markets, opting into new classes and workshops I’ve always wanted to take, exploring amazing parks and greenery, and trying out new restaurants as well as old favorites. Next entry I’ll write back with some of the specific events I’ve been checking out in case you too ever find yourself around Harvard for the summer—it’s a wonderful place to be!

 

Until next time~

 

~Natalie

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Farewell Class of 2012!

May 25, 2012 in Shaun's Blog by Shaun | 4 comments

It is always hard to say good-bye to an amazing class. Last year, I thought I experienced the worst, when I had to say good-bye to all my life-long friends and venture into a new environment where I didn’t know anyone. Little did I know that I would venture over three-thousand miles and make closer friends in one year than I have my whole life.

Throughout my life I have been a competitive junior and traveled the U.S. playing national tennis tournaments. Tennis is such an individual sport, and in the juniors you just look out for yourself. In college, it is supposed to be more team oriented, but before coming to Harvard, I didn’t understand the team aspect. In the fall, I continued to play as if I was still an individual. Since then, I feel I have grown so much, as wells as grown closer to the team.

I owe this growth to the four seniors on the tennis team. They are Davis Mangham, Alistair Felton, Jon Pearlman, and Mac McAnulty. While each one has a complete different personality, tennis has unified them and they comprise the HMT class of 2012.

First we have our captains, Davis Mangham and Alistair Felton. Davis is the most responsible person I have met. He is always on top of his work, takes care of his body, and never misses a practice or a workout. More importantly, is one of the coolest people I have ever met, and I always enjoy being in his company.

Davis Mangham

Our other captain, Alistair, hails from Great Britain and has been a great leader through many battles we have had this year. He is a world-class doubles player who can return virtually any shot blasted at him. He also constantly invites us to his room to hang out or watch a movie, and really made me feel part of the team during my first couple months at Harvard.

Alistair Felton

Next, we have Jon. Known for his six-pack beach body physique, he is probably the most entertaining player to watch on a tennis court. His passion and fire is second to none, and he truly wears his heart on his sleeve. He is one of the most hard working tennis players I know, putting several hours outside of practice to improve his game. I really looked up to him this year, and he inspired me to try harder and push my boundaries farther than I thought I could.

Jon Pearlman

Last, but not least, we have Mac. He is one of the most interesting people I know. Not only does he excel in academics, breezing through his undergraduate years with a near perfect GPA and at ticket to Oxford, but he is one the most vocal tennis players both on and off the court.  Whether he has to climb a tree, or shout through a small opening in wall, Mac is always keen on voicing his support in our dual matches.

Mac McAnulty

These four seniors really shaped my first year at Harvard and is the reason why I had such a positive first year experience. Being part of this team has given me so much invaluable experience and memories that will last me for a lifetime. It’s not only in the advice they give and direct commentary, but also through the indirect effects of their actions that they continue to influence everyone on the team. They are our mentors and leaders, and I will continue to look up to them for the rest of my life.

While it is sad to say goodbye to such an amazing class, it is a very essential part of life. This cycle enables the next generation of warriors and fighters, to rise up and make their mark as a member of the HMT. Like many great graduates before them, the HMT class of 2012 will be missed greatly, but they  will never truly be gone, but continue to live and be present through our actions. Congratulations HMT class of 2012, and best of luck in the future!

 

Harvard Men's Tennis Senior Class of 2012

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H-bomb 2.0

May 24, 2012 in Jeanie's Blog by Jeanie Nguyen | 1 comment

I’m halfway done with college – I hate admitting this and hate hearing it more. My loathing stems from the general consensus that time passes by too quickly. Wow, I feel so old just typing that.

The Yard & John Harvard Statue with more visitors during commencement than normal; welcome!

As my sophomore academic year ended, I couldn’t (and didn’t want to) believe another phenomenal senior class would be graduating from the college. First and foremost, they all deserve a grand CONGRATULATIONS – no banner, no matter how large, will ever be able to accurately convey the prodigious pride that they have instilled not only in themselves, but also in their family, friends, and even acquaintances. The graduating class of 2012 has – and will continue to – permanently imprint their intellect and kindness both on and off campus. President Faust eloquently and succinctly delineates the greatness of 2012 in her commencement speech [here] – while reading this, I shamelessly freaked out about her how AWESOME her closing line is!! Referencing Call Me, Maybe definitely captures part of Harvard’s culture as this track has conquered campus, infiltrating into the playlist of every (good) party, Housing Day videos, and of course, athletic teams.

 

Fun fact (that I think is true): Class Banners are only presented a few special times – Convocation, Commencement & Reunions!

 

After freshman year at the

Convocation and Commencement happen in the same place: between Memorial Church & Widener Library

undergraduate college, students are officially considered “upperclassmen” as we move into our upperclassmen houses (dorms). This “House Life” definitely lends itself to increased interaction with the older (and wiser) kids on campus. Therefore, I definitely feel much closer to this year’s senior class. In fact, many of them were instrumental in my decision to become premed my freshman spring semester. Needless to say, I’ve gotten pretty reminiscent and have been watching class day/commencement speeches these past few hours – perhaps trying to prematurely absorb and apply the wisdom being imparted. To my surprise, some of my favorite speeches weren’t celebrities, but rather students – students speaking about failures and disappointments: Molly O’Connor Fitzpatrick, Scott Alan Levin-Gesundheit, Jacqueline Rossi, and Steven Maheshwary. As depressing as this may seem, it’s hard to talk about something without mentioning its evil twin. So on the glorious day where we rejoice in our successes, we must also acknowledge how our failures have brought us here.

 

A wider view of the stage where all the speeches take place

Mentioning “Harvard,” more often than not, triggers an overwhelmingly popular misconception that its students are nothing other than absolute perfection. As much as I’d love for this perception to be completely true, it’s really not. In fact, we’re trying to build upon ourselves and improve constantly. This drive to strive for not just more but better is how I like to characterize “Harvard.”

During the last week of this past spring semester, I participated in an Admissions Focus Group where current students and the Director of Digital Communications collaborated on how to basically market Harvard through the power of the internet. It’s slightly unintuitive that Harvard needs to market at all, but it is really important to inculcate to applicants that Harvard is not beyond reach. Personally, I’d like to see the prioritization of humbling Harvard so that interested and prospective students are more open to applying rather than being too intimidated to sit at the table and gamble. The focus group discussed everything from our website and its ease of navigation, Visitas (prefrosh weekend), & decision letters and its wording in personalized letters and phone calls – and more importantly how all these factors compared to other institutions.

Although I really should have been studying for finals and packing my belongings, it was really inspiring to participate in the focus group and how much hard work goes on behind the scenes. In the midst of hectic semesters, it’s all too easy to get caught up in how hard you’re working and neglect the diligence of others. However, I feel much more motivated when I know that those around me are working hard too – and this includes the faculty and staff! I’ll call it the Peer Pressure Syndrome when you work hard because everyone around you is too!

 

**Photo credits to Harvard Magazine!

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