extraordinary machine: The Graduate

As May 30, I am officially a graduate of Brown University.

I'm still kind of in denial about the whole thing. It feels like I'm just on break, like I'll go back to Brown at the end of the summer - even with all the preparations I've been making for next year. Having been to three prior Commencements, a lot of it felt like I was just pretending to graduate. A few moments made it real, however. Standing with the band seniors as we danced along to the band's performance of "Bad Romance." Walking through the Van Wickle Gates with my amazing friend Adrienne, surrounded by rows and rows of cheering friends, professors, and alums. Hearing Ruth Simmons congratulate our class on the grounds of the First Baptist Church in America. Feeling my heart swell with pride at the amazing accomplishments of my friends who had graduated Magna Cum Laude or who had made various honor societies. Trying not to cry as I gave a goodbye hug to my housemate, Masumi, one of my best friends since freshman year.

So here I am, graduated, with a Bachelor of Arts in Gender & Sexuality Studies. It feels like a big accomplishment. Even if we Brown students are, as honorary degree recipient Morgan Freeman put it, "a raucous bunch of miscreants," we've worked hard in school our whole lives and it's come down to this. I'm excited to leave, though. There is much that I will miss about Brown - being able to choose from myriad free concerts, plays, lectures, films, etc. on any given day/night; beautiful College Hill and quirky Providence; the general atmosphere of constant questioning and inquisitive learning; being able to take for granted (most of the time) a certain level of curiosity and understanding about social justice; and most of all, the close proximity to some of the most incredible people I have ever met. The friends I have made at Brown are worth every penny of the student loans I'll be paying off for what seems like eternity. At the same time, I am beyond excited to get out into the world. There is something about the college atmosphere that frustrated me after four years - I'm excited to have more of a work/life balance, to not constantly be at school. Most of all, I can't wait to dig in and get some hands-on experience, to directly affect change after years of intellectualizing it. And I can't wait to get to know a new city - in many ways, the ultimate city.

The day is best captured in pictures.