Graduation Traditions & Transitions 

American Graffiti is one of my favorite movies because it captured the feeling of standing on a precipice filled with excitement while facing great uncertainty. Whenever I attend a graduation ceremony, that feeling is rekindled as I watch the students parade in, cross the stage, and parade outdoors once more. Graduation is an act of looking backward and looking forward simultaneously.

I delayed writing this blog due to a storm of sports team finals and a sequence of end-of-the-school-year activities, including two graduations. Over the past two weekends, I have attended high school graduation ceremonies for two of my grandkids. Both of them are graduating from larger high schools, necessitating travel to larger public arenas that could accommodate the crowds. After watching both ceremonies, I have three thoughts I would like to share. One thought spotlights the graduates' expressions at those moments that they were awarded their diplomas. My second thought concerns the content of speeches delivered at the ceremony, and the final thought is about the relevance of traditional graduation ceremonies.

As a photographer, I tend to study the range of students' expressions at graduation. Watching them walk across the stage prompted me to recall some of that emotion, which I experienced many years ago. The majority of students were sufficiently humbled as their full middle name was blasted out over the PA system, causing them to seek no further notoriety and meekly accept their diploma as a final act of compliance with high school rules. Unfortunately for some students, high school was a living social hell and their graduation was viewed as an escape portal -- slip away unnoticed and hope emotional healing may follow.  Others felt the moment more keenly and expressed it in a variety of ways. Upon receiving their diploma, some students made the sign of the cross, perhaps in an act of gratitude for divine intervention in their completion of high school. Free at last! Other students danced a quick jig or pumped their diplomas in the air as an act of spontaneous joy, while others descended the stage to hug a favorite teacher lining the rows. Of course, there is always that one "special" student who seizes his moment in front of an audience. Evidently the pressure of the moment was too great when a young man confused his high school graduation with Seinfeld's Festivus celebration by displaying a feat of strength. I admired his agility when he performed a flawless back flip in his cap and gown immediately after exiting the stage.

Graduation ceremonies would not be complete without the speeches. The most traditional speeches are delivered by the valedictorian and the salutatorian, the most academically gifted students. Their speeches thank teachers and parents who helped them excel in their studies, and they also attempt to highlight some universal truth or extol the ethic of diligent work or self-reliance. It's only natural that their speech follows that pattern since these good habits and values have served them well during their high school years. It's the "what comes next" and knowing what to do when no one provides them with next week's assignment that is problematic. This is not a criticism, but it is an observation revealing that these stellar scholars are equally unseasoned in life as their lesser-achieving classmates. If you are fortunate, the graduation ceremony will feature student speeches and performances rather than the dry, obligatory speeches by the adults who use the stage to highlight their esteemed positions. Those adults often forget that graduation ceremonies are about student transitions, celebrating their endings and fresh beginnings. 

My final thought concerning graduation is an invitation to consider with me a need for an alternative graduation that may be offered as an option against the traditional ceremony. For some, the concept of a traditional graduation ceremony remains a meaningful way to celebrate the transition between high school and life as a fully independent adult. However, would it be reasonable to offer two graduation ceremonies among which students would have the opportunity to choose? The traditional graduation ceremony, as currently practiced, should be an option if for no other reason than its traditions run deep in families and communities. There are many valid reasons to commend it. However, our culture and lives have changed, as have the students graduating from our high schools. What would happen if our students (soon to be fellow adult community members and neighbors) were offered a greater voice in the conduct of their graduation ceremonies? Recognizing that schools have obligations to civil law and responsibilities to their own community, is it possible that a steering committee composed of students, interested faculty members, and even a respected community member design an alternative graduation ceremony? I would hope that the student voices would be heard and that they would be considered equal partners in this design.

While graduation traditions may bind us together, they can also feel as confining as a prison cell. What may a graduation alternative ceremony look like?  

The valedictorian and salutatorian still may lay claim to their roles within the traditional ceremony. Their scholarship is worthy of recognition. The alternative graduation may elect to feature respected fellow classmates who exhibited good character and acceptable academic performance. Those students selected for speaking roles may not be those students who excelled at answering questions posed in the classroom or on exams. The students selected to speak at the ceremony may be those students who were good at asking questions and being open to others. They may be skilled at overcoming their mistakes and embarrassments and can inspire their classmates to find courage when facing difficult tasks at school or outside of school issues. Students may wish to substitute Pomp and Circumstance with music more meaningful to them but still pertinent to graduation themes. Instead of a speaker, students may produce a video that was developed to chronicle their high school experience and share what they have learned collectively about themselves and through working together. As for the caps and gowns, they may be retained as a nod to tradition, but if they were omitted, would it be a great loss? (I have yet to find a suitable occasion to wear my cape and sober black mortarboard cap). High school is very real, as is routine everyday adult life. Can we make a more compelling story for our students and community about that transition?

A tradition without intelligence is not worth having." – T.S. Eliot 

Disclaimer: I just returned from my grandchild's eighth grade graduation. Nothing discussed above should ever apply to middle school students who experience each day as a variety show!

 No Longer Saving Soles

For the past ten days I have been searching my digital archives for the original copies of these photos.  I have been unsuccessful in locating the hard drive that contains them, so I had to download smaller copies from my Flickr site.

When you look closely at these photos you will note they have some uncorrected barrell distortion which doesn't bother me much.  I chose to shoot the interior with an 11-16mm zoom because the shop was narrow and deep.   This zoom has been useful in architectural photos and landscape photography.  I like the way it stretches the edges of the sky making them look dramatic.  The lens is a good response for tight places where choosing a different location is difficult.

I am fond of the top photo for a number of reasons.  It holds a special memory reaching back to my youth.  As a young adult, I had my shoes re-soled here making them look magically new again and avoiding the discomfort of breaking in new shoes.  The smell of leather dyes, polish, and freshly cut leather perfumed the interior upon entry.  The shop was family owned for decades and finally closed its doors due to a culture that values disposal over renewal.

Another reason this photo resonates with me is its warm tones which give it a feeling of intimacy as one feels when returning to a familiar place.  The stained and cracked walls added authenticity. The shoe stitching machines were somewhat vintage when the shop opened, but they continue to suggest a manufacturing industry that once drove this community for decades and still remains part of the community's character.

In the days leading to the closing, I asked the owner about the sign that hung above the buffers for all those years.  He said that it was a gift from a local convent from the nuns for generous service.  It seemed  a perfect sentiment from the givers and served as a poetic mission statement for the owners. 

 

Future Photographer

taken with an Olympus OMD em5 and a 24mm Nikon ais lens

I called this photo "Little Shooter" for obvious reasons. What attracted me was the pose the child was striking to use a cell phone to grab a shot of a little league game. She has probably witnessed the adults in her life taking photos of her or other children from this lower eye-level position. The fact that her photo will be of the peeling painted backboards is inconsequential. In this moment she is strictly enjoying the act of taking a photograph.  

Enjoying the experience of taking photos is the better half of photography. Taking the photo you want is a motivator, but the simple act of taking a photo is pleasurable at some level of our being. We all feel good when the shutter goes "click" and we hold possibilities and memories in our hands.

As I took this photo, I thought how frightening this photo may appear to the various camera manufacturers. The child is using a cell phone, mimicking the way that most adults take their photos these days. An adult in her life has given her their cell phone to take this photo, and she will subconsciously remember this moment not holding a Kodak, Nikon, Sony, or other major camera manufacturer's product. Oh, the things we pass on to our children/grandchildren--  a serious thought!