My Graduation

I’m in the office right now, listenting to some Genesis, Mars Volta, preparing senior day material for our baseball team and our graduation at Belmont is going on right now.

I’m going to sneak a peek at the festivities, but it reminded me of my graduation day from Vanderbilt in 2003.

I remember that day very well. First, the graduation was indoors at Memorial Gym because of bad weather. The graduation had always been outside and our class was only the first or second ever to have it indoors, which bummed me out because every year you would see the chairs set up on Alumni Lawn for the outdoor ceremony and you imagine yourself being there. But I was getting my degree, so I wasn’t too concerned about it.

There were several cool things about the ceremony though. First, we don’t have guest speakers at Vanderbilt, which I thought was lame at first, but I dig that our chancellor speaks to us, which at my time was E. Gordon Gee. Second, each of the graduate schools like law, medicine and business joined us undergraduates for the first part of the ceremony before heading to their own ceremony. Seeing all of the colors and the older students getting their degree and being just as excited as we were was great. Next, they called each of us to get our degree on the stage so you got your two seconds of glory. I remember mine and it was great.

What wasn’t great was the air-conditioning breaking down during the ceremony. Seeing and feeling thousands of people sweating in suits and graduation gowns wasn’t cool.

I was going to wear a suit with my cap and gown, but I said screw that, that’s now how I rolled then and not how I roll now. I had on some khakis pants and a black Vanderbilt alumni t-shirt that I wore for the first time that day. Still have the shirt.

The best part of the day was seeing how happy my mother was. I had a lot of family members come to the graduation, aunts, uncles, my brothers, my nieces and nephews, it was amazing the support I received from them. However, it was all about my mother.

She sacrificed so much for me and without her, I wouldn’t have been there. So I remember getting the degree on stage, sitting down at my seat and marveling that I graduated from Vanderbilt. My good friend Jay aka Jerome was sitting next to me because our names lined up alphabetically and we were just talking about how amazing it was. We also talked Kentucky basketball during most of the ceremony because we’re guys. Still good friends with Jay to this day.

So the ceremony ends, I greet the family and I tell my mother that the degree was for her. Of course she cries, because in the Pourtout/Gray family, it’s not a ceremony/wedding/good moment in life without tears. I didn’t cry at that moment, but I shed happy tears later. Anyway, the whole family is excited and she is so happy for me, but I was happier for her. She was able to see her son graduate from college and I was happy to give her that happiness.

My brother Denny made a point that day that I still remember. We’re driving down West End and he tells me that he’s happy that I was able to make Ma happy. He mentioned that everyone was getting older in the family and I was always the smart, studious one. He was proud that I was able to stay focused on school. His words meant more than some degree.

I graduate from Belmont next spring and I will attend the ceremony and will keep this degree because while the Vandy degree was on my mother, this one is all me. I’ll keep this one in my possession. However, it’s like the time someone was asking Michael Irvin, the three-time Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys, about his championships. He looked into the camera and said that he was proud of all three championships but there’s nothing like the first one. That’s how I feel about my Vanderbilt degree.

I honestly gave my mother the Vandy degree that day and have held it only one or two other times in my life. Some people like to hang the degree in their office or frame it or something. When I told my mother that the degree was for her, I meant it. She can do whatever she wants with it but hopefully she looks at it once in a while and is proud of me. That’s my true graduation.