Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Class of 2014

Following the ceremony at
Municipal Auditorium
It has been a full two and a half weeks since my graduation from Rockhurst.  I cannot believe that four years before that, I was graduating from my high school in western Kansas.  The weekend this time around was that much more full though as I also moved into my new apartment on the Plaza.  I was so lucky to have my parents, my siblings, my boyfriend, and my grandma all here to help me throughout the weekend, and there were definitely a few times that I could not have done it without them!

After Baccalaureate with my parents
Friday was the Baccalaureate mass at St Francis Xavier, across the street from Rockhurst. Before the mass, all of the graduates gathered on the quad and got a chance to catch up, take pictures, and just take a moment to reflect before the big weekend began.  We even got to say hi to Lynn and Dean McConnell who were in the 2nd floor of Conway from below!  The church was completely packed with the families who were there to support their graduates, and Fr Curran gave a great homily.

Saturday was the actual graduation ceremony!  By being separated between the colleges, it seemed weird which friends we were able to run into.  After getting seated at the Municipal Auditorium, and seeing my family all sitting together, the importance of the day truly set in.  I could not believe how excited everyone looked for us.  Our class speaker was Quentin Savwoir, who I remember thinking the first time I met him that I hoped he got asked to give our graduation address.  Walking across the stage was exciting, but I especially enjoyed all of the smiles and congratulations I was able to share with professors who were also part of the ceremony.


With friends at Hawk Walk
The Hawk Walk proceeded from Municipal Auditorium to a Block Party in the Power and Light District.  I was part of the first wave of people and directly followed bagpipers (nice touch Rockhurst) from a local group.  It was definitely a unique experience to get to walk through downtown Kansas City.  After spending some time congratulating friends and hanging out with my family, we went to dinner on the Plaza.

Over the course of the weekend, my family was phenomenal in also getting all of my stuff moved from one place to the other, and over the course of the following week, I got settled into my new place (although it is still a work in progress). And then last week after Memorial Day, I started my new job!  It has been a crazy few weeks but I am so excited to be graduated and on to the next step in my life!

The "Ladies of Accounting" before the ceremony