The Tassel Was Worth The Hassle

It was an extremely proud moment when I finished dressing up and looked at myself in the mirror. The honor medals shined in all their glory, announcing my hard work. The honor pins and chord complemented the rest of the regalia, showing off my dedication. The Robert H. Smith School of Business's Undergraduate graduation ceremony was held on May 23rd, 2014 at 9am at The Comcast Center. All the graduating students were to report to the venue by 8am, and that meant waking up at 7am to dress up and shine!

My experience dressing up was different than many of my fellow students, for I had to pin my honor medals in place, making sure each and every single one of them showed! I was proud; I had been offered membership in The Golden Key International Honor Society which meant I was among the Top 15 of my class, and I had been recognized by the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society for being among the Top 10 graduating seniors of the entire University of Maryland, College Park. It was a great honor to be part of these societies and the excitement of strutting the medals that morning was beyond me!

Once dressed and ready to shine, I wore my awesome red heels and climbed inside the car; my car was unlike other graduates' too! Abbie had decorated it so that the world knew a graduate was on board!! It looked absolutely fabulous and it brought a gigantic smile to my face when I first saw it!

And now what follows is my Graduation experience in pictures!

We arrived on time (woohoo!) and of course instantly starting taking pictures! With the Comcast center in the background, with the awesome car Abbie had decorated, and with each other!

Once inside, all the graduates were sent to the Pavilion and their families were directed to the stadium where the ceremony would take place.

And of course that meant more pictures! Yayyy!

And then we were lined up according to our majors and gradually we began walking towards the ceremony. This was a classic moment; standing in that line and walking slowly and slowly gave me the same feeling in the stomach that you get when you're in line for a roller coaster ride! THE NERVOUSNESS, THE HAPPINESS, THE PRIDE .. it was all inexplicably awesome!

It was FANTASTIC when I entered the stadium! The music they were playing made it all feel very 'Harry Potter-ish'. The decor, the arrangements, the seating .. it was all just so breathtakingly perfect, I had tears in my eyes!! I was GRADUATING in such a magnificent manner! Wow! Smith School had impressed us all yet again! 

And then began my struggle to locate my family! Haha! They had told me they were sitting on the right side of the stage. The way they meant it was that I should look at my right when I enter. The way I read it in the text was that they would be sitting on the right when I would be seated. Instant confusion!

And then, we were all seated and the commencement ceremony began! One by one, words of wisdom were fed to our minds; The Smith School left no opportunity to convey awesomeness to the students! I sat there waiting patiently with my name card! And of course, waiting periods call for picture time!

And right then, mama texted me. My name was printed on the program booklet!! AWESOMENESS! I had recently been awarded as the Top Graduating Senior in Business Management so my name was separately printed! I was so happy, I nudged my friend sitting right next to me and showed it to her! She showed the same delight and instantly grabbed out her phone to take a picture. #MomentOfPride

And then .... I walked. I got up on that stage and all the nervousness just vanished. It was a very unique feeling; I knew I had done it! It was all complete, four years of my life. It was SOOOO amazing to be up there on the stage .. one of those feelings that you can just never forget.

Following the ceremony, I arrived home to all the wonderful decorations Abbie and mama had put up to celebrate my big achievement. There were balloons, flowers, a huge extremely gorgeous cake, lots of cards, and lots of signs announcing I had graduated!

We went out for a celebratory lunch; Abbie, mama, and I! Curry Leaf (drools) was as always superbly delicious!

And then we came home and took a refreshing nap. Obviously, this nap was a stress free one after four years! *sighs* And when we woke up we had a family pajama party! It was the sweetest and most relaxing way of celebrating. I cut the cake and we had delicious food from Kabob and Karhai! Abbie made me wear my Maryland shirt over my pajama! It looked greattt! This was the shirt I had received from my orientation, the very first day at UMD! I use it as a decorative item in my closet instead of wearing it!

Four years later I can say it with pride .. I am the Class of 2014, graduated happily from the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland!

The Tassel Was Worth The Hassle

This is an accomplishment from my bucket list too!