Day in the Sun

The amphitheater at Ryan Park an hour before the ceremony.

Both my kids have earned something I never did----an eighth grade diploma. It is mandatory to take off from work when a family member passes this significant milestone, and so it was that I, along with nearly 1,000 parents, siblings, and friends, was baking in the Northern California sun last week to attend the commencement ceremony for Bowditch Middle School's Class of 2005.

The obligatory speeches by the principal, the class president and the student body president contained nothing unusual or controversial, and we cheered loudly as our charge marched to the stage to receive his certificate. Our cameras snapped away during and after the ceremony, and we hosted a lunch for relatives who flew (!) in for the event. We ended the day by unwrapping presents that commemorated the occasion.

Relatives of the graduate swelter and squint.

Because Foster City doesn’t have a high school, the students will be split up into at least four different high schools in San Mateo County, and many will never see each other again. The ceremony honored their achievement, but more importantly to the students, their three years together.

I am sympathetic to the view that awards are growing like topsy in 21st century America. The currency of recognition is being debased, and it is hard to separate the truly distinguished from the merely satisfactory due to the plethora of prizes being passed out like candy.

But I’ve become mellower in my old age. These young men and women will find out soon enough that life will be filled with disappointment and discomfiting surprises. And most do not have the luxury of extended families who will cushion these blows. So give them their day in the sun.

The most successful CEO of the past generation believed in celebrating small victories. “Celebration is the most under-utilized tool in corporate America,” he said, and perhaps this criticism is true of our society at large.

OK, some parents do go overboard.

[Think we lack perspective? See this American’s-eye view of middle-school graduation in Japan(caution: profanity). Hat tip: Steven Den Beste] © 2005 Stephen Yuen