Graduation

I graduated from UCLA School of Law last Friday. While it was great to have so much family there, the ceremony reminded me of why graduations are no fun. Here's the thing: I've never been to a great graduation ceremony, nor have I ever heard anyone talk about what a great time they had at one. They're all way too long with too many speakers who take up too much time and you always have to sit in the sun. Why can't we just do away with all but maybe one speaker, read the names, and go home? That would be a great ceremony.
Here's a summary of the speakers and their themes:

- Dean Schill: basically talked about how much of a bummer it was to graduate into this crappy economy. Thanks for the pick-me-up Dean Schill!

- Ned: Ned's my friend (and teammate on our intramural champion football team), but it pretty much seemed like he hadn't planned anything ahead of time.

- Student Speaker: his opening line was, "One hot summer night, I lay in bed with my partner as the moonlight filtered through the window, delirious and blissfully unaware of the problems around us . . . "; um . . . TOO MUCH INFORMATION!

- Prof. Stark (Prof. of the year): great speech; very funny.

- Keynote speaker (D.A. of San Francisco): I'm sure she did well, but we were all tuned out by this time and I honestly can't tell you a thing she said.

Carter sums up how we all felt about the speeches

I will admit I liked at the end where the Dean had us all stand up and he said something to the effect of "By the power vested in me by the Regents of the University of California, I now confer upon you the degree of Juris Doctor". That was cool and made it all seem real.

Thanks to all who came! (Justin is taking the picture)