How fast four years flies by! It seems like it was just yesterday that I posted This Post explaining how we
were moving our daughter, Laura Lee, out of the house and into her dorm room at
LSU to begin her first semester at college.
And now… Well, Friday we traveled to Baton Rouge to attend her
Graduation Ceremonies. I’m telling you,
where does the time go? She graduated
with the highest honors – Summa Cum Laude and we are very proud of her. A lot of work went into her Bachelor's Degree and it was all
worth it. She’ll be teaching Third Grade
in Baton Rouge starting in mid-July.
There’s a lot of mixed emotions with this big event. Happy that she’s beginning a life on her
own. Proud of her success in the
classroom and of her creativity and talents.
Protective of her as she goes out on her own. Prayerful for her direction and continued
success. Sad as she’s officially
stretching her wings and leaving the nest, flying out on her own. Reflective and introspective as I wonder if
we gave her the tools in her toolbox to enable her to go out and thrive on her
own.
LSU has a Main Ceremony for all graduates in the Pete
Maravich Assembly Center at 8AM. The
family arrived in Baton Rouge bright and early to cheer for her. Let me back up a minute. She didn’t want to go to the ceremony. She said, “No one goes to the 8AM
ceremony. It is too early.” We insisted that she worked too hard to miss
this big day and she begrudgingly showed up.
What if you threw a party and nobody showed up? |
She was right! The
picture above shows the total number of graduates attending the 8 AM
ceremony. No doubt, the few that were there were likely brow-beaten by their parents to attend.
Laura sent us texts during the ceremony that said, “Look at me – one of
the 8 people that is here!” and “I think I’ll do my nails. Is that okay?”
2016 Spring Graduates of Louisiana State University set a
record as the largest graduating class in history with a total of 4,102 graduating. LSU has enrollment of 31,527 in the Fall of
2015. Here’s some neat statistics:
Graduates in Laura Lee's class represent:
·
61 of 64 Louisiana Parishes
·
46 US States
·
61 Foreign Countries
·
The oldest graduate was 81 years old
·
The youngest graduate was 20 years old
·
Females made up 54% of the graduating class
We took a lot of photos to capture the big day. Here’s our girl amidst the throng of fellow
graduates on the floor of the PMAC after the ceremony. She might be a little hard to pick out.
I did it! |
Here’s our girl posing with the Bronze Mike the Tiger
right in front of the live Mike the Tiger’s cage.
Stand right up and ROAR! |
My Mom and Dad made the journey to hoot and holler for
her and we snapped a photo of them with her under the “stately oaks and broad
magnolias.”
Graduation with the Grandparents |
And here’s the proud parents with the graduate:
And the brothers
Russ, Laura Lee & Benjamin |
In front of Tiger Stadium in cap and gown:
On the ramp of the PMAC in front of Mike the Tiger’s
tower.
Now, later throughout the day, each respective college
convenes for the diploma ceremony. This
is where you get your name called and you walk across the stage, shake hands
with the Dean and receive your diploma while your family screams and claps in
happiness. At 11 AM Laura Lee’s college,
The College of Human Sciences and Education commenced the celebration. I’m happy to say many more people attended!
If you look closely in the next picture you can see her
and her name on the big screen receiving the piece of paper that represents
many hours of hard work.
So proud of our girl:
We met at 1:15 for a celebratory meal at Juban’s. Here’s the family smiling and about to enjoy
a good meal and fellowship. Juban’s is
famous for their “Hallelujah Crab,” a fried soft-shelled crab stuffed with
crawfish tails, shrimp and crabmeat, topped with Creolaise sauce. The reason it is called Hallelujah crab is
that it is arranged on the plate with the claws up in the air. You can sort of see that on Dad’s plate
below. Hallelujah, also though, that
Laura Lee graduated and did so well in her studies!
Here’s the pretty girl at the head of the table
And finally with flowers on the way out of the restaurant
Congrats Laura Lee! We love you! |
Juban’s appropriately had a special menu for the 2016
graduates and on it, the quoted a passage from Dr. Seuss’ “Oh the places You’ll
Go!” I read that book to Laura Lee when she
was just a little bitty thing and I thought it was appropriate for the occasion. I’ll share a few lines from it now:
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are theguy girl who'll decide
where to go.
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
You're off the Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
You're off the Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!
It’s me again. We
love you, Laura Lee! Happy Graduation
and we wish you all the best that God has in store for you…
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