Graduations

164_6445-4.JPGMy sister graduated from UCSD today. It was our third and final graduation to attend this week. Besides getting a little sunburnt, I reflected on the common themes of the ceremonies. They were all optimistic and idealistic. Students are full of so much confidence and optimism, yet its lost somewhere in the transition to the working world. Perhaps, its stripped away by the challenges and realities of the real world. There are very few people in the professional world that have the same degree of “I am capable of and can do anything” attitude as in school. This is natural and probably healthy, as much of the idealism that accompanies that optimism is balanced with pragmatism. But it might be good to keep some of that optimism and idealism, however naive it may be.

The only reason I bring all this up is because the idea for this adventure was borne during Joylani and I’s time at UCSB. As optimistic students, we promised ourselves that we’d see the world. We didn’t know when exactly; we simply committed to taking the time when we had a chance. Now that we’re working and caught up in cycle of rent, bills, and paychecks, I don’t think we’d go if he hadn’t made that committment several years ago. And while the planning, preparing, and saving was fully driven by practicality, the inspiration was borne from our idealism as students.

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