June 16, 2001: A date that will be remembered forever by everyone in the University of Oregon class of 2001. Will it resemble the joyous, sunny scene played out in movie after movie? And how will I find my cap after I throw it?
Inside or outside? I remember reading in last year’s Emerald about Mary Hudzikiewicz, the woman who has planned and organized University graduation ceremonies for the past 28 years, standing out in her bright red dress, starkly contrasting the sea of green caps and gowns worn by the graduates. The ceremonies have almost always been held outside, mostly without rain — until that article. This year’s ceremony will be held at McArthur Court, indoors for just the third time in the last three decades — and I guarantee it’ll be 85 degrees and sunny.
I can still remember the day I set off to college. Everything I owned was packed into my Volkswagen GTI as I drove west in the direction of the rising sun. Alone, I set off for a new town, a new life and new friends on the other side of the Cascades. Central Oregon offered a perfect reprieve from the soggy and dark Willamette Valley.
I can clearly recall the first person I met and the conversation we had as we sat on the top of one of the cabins at one of those get-to-know-everybody-weekends on the grounds of a summer camp nestled near the base of Black Butte and smoked joints, silently and fearfully waiting for the four girls who had returned for their forgotten jackets to leave the cabin so we could get down from the roof.
But now, nearly five years later, it’s ending and I can’t remember much of it. Sure, I can remember some things. Bend is close to the mountain, less than 20 minutes if you drive fast enough. Five nights a week of Deschutes Brewery kegs and drinking Jenga