Happy Graduation Weekend AF’ers!
It’s a wonderful time of year for many of our students with the semester culminating. We have a special population that I felt appropriate to highlight for this month’s AF Blog: Graduating Seniors/ Master’s/ Doctoral Students.
They’ve gone through the trenches. Put in their blood, sweat, and tears (literally and figuratively). And now they can finally experience this rite of passage through the graduating ceremony, symbolizing that their hard work and efforts have paid off.
What better way to send them off, then with some words from the wise (our very own advisors!). You can enjoy some of their heartfelt and comical anecdotes below.
What was your graduation like? (College or otherwise)
- I graduated on Mother’s Day and our ceremony took place outside. It was perfect weather for it. I will also never forget my commencement speaker who just happened to be John McCain.
- Hectic. And bitter sweet.
- A blur; my entire class was up all night, tired for the ceremony. We all took tons of pictures, ate lots of food, and said our goodbyes. I got a compliment on my shoes from the President of the school and not even an hour later ruined my shoes by stepping in a sewer hole ):
- Despite graduating at the end of April, it was snowing at my college graduation!
- All I remember from the ceremony itself was being asked to donate to my alma mater as an alumna, which was amusing as a newly graduated and unemployed person, and walking across the stage to receive my diploma while hearing my family cheer, which made me tear-up with joy.
- My graduation just was a wonderful day, an awesome brunch with my family and closest friends–kicking off a weekend celebration.
- Very interesting… I did not pick up all my honors cords and my mom was livid. She made me buy them on the way to graduation. I was a first generation college student, so i think the cords meant more to her than me. We got a great story out of it and we still joke about the graduation cords to this day!
What is your favorite thing about FSU graduation?
- I loved the speaker at my graduation. He worked in finance and gave some great advice about potential next steps in our financial lives.
- I was the first person in my family to graduate, so seeing the pride in my parents faces was awesome.
- The feeling of accomplishment and camaraderie with other students.
- Despite wearing matching black robes, the lengths people will go to try an personalize/accessorize their graduation look.
- The smaller “illegal” department graduations.
- I have actually never attended an FSU graduation. However, I imagine that like many other schools’ ceremonies the graduating class give one final cheer as they are congratulated, which is always inspiring.
- Seeing what my students’ next steps are.
If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself concerning graduation?
- Buy a dress that fits well and makes you feel good! Don’t worry about the color.
- Don’t stay out so late the night before!
- To make more time to thank the people who got me to my graduation day whether it be parents, friends, advisors or faculty members.
- Do not procrastinate!!!
- Don’t stress about the pictures or the celebrations, take in every minute and enjoy your accomplishments and successes.
- It’s over before you know it.
- Don’t underestimate yourself.
- You do not need to know what you will do for the rest of your life yet.
- Take advantage of more on campus resources to prepare me for my life post graduation (Career Center, internship, tutoring, advising etc)
- Get some sleep the night before and get ALL of your fancy cords!
If you had to give one piece of advice to your students, what would it be?
- Book your graduation dinner. If the restaurant you want to attend doesn’t take reservations, find another place! It’s not worth it.
- Manage your time wisely. There is plenty of time to take care of school work and have a fun social experience in college.
- Enjoy it. Don’t worry so much about what you are wearing or where you will eat after. You finally made it and your hard work has paid off.
- The pain of the next few weeks is temporary. Your GPA is forever.
- Make sure you have a solid plan for your next move after graduation (applying for jobs, saving money, etc.)
- Take in every second of everything! You deserve to be the center of attention! Welcome to the “Big” kid world!!
- There is an adjustment period post-graduation… and don’t spend your first paycheck all in one place.
- Don’t worry–it really will all work out.
- Enjoy this present moment instead of worrying about the future.
- Enjoy your years as an undergraduate. The time flies by, and you’ll never get it back. And balance, make sure you’re taking care of your academics, your physical and mental health, and the people in your life that you care about.
- Enjoy the time with your family and friends during graduation. Everyone is so excited for you and it is great moment to spend it with the people you love! Also, make sure to eat as much good food as you can for graduation… after that you are on your own and probably won’t be able to afford to go out to eat too often!
No matter what walk of life our students intend or end up pursuing, it’s clear that FSU Advising First has your back. Past. Present. And Future.
We all truly care for our students and hope they succeed in whatever endeavors. My piece of advice to them might be to, “take advantage of all of life’s moments as learning lessons to get better and better each day”. You really can do it!
Signing off,
Stacey Accad
Proud Advising First Advisor
College of Business
FSU Alumnae Class of 2013
advisingfirstblog.wordpress.com 