Friday, May 29, 2009

Convocation 2009

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This year, thanks to many loved ones, Dr. Andrew Sean Davidson made his first appearance at the Briercrest graduation in style. Here he is sporting the cap, gown and hood of an official McMaster PhD. Thank you to everyone who made it possible.

And let me take this time to say how truly proud we are of our Doctor.

While I normally skip the convocation ceremony for obvious reasons (obvious to anyone who has ever attended one of these ceremonies), I thought it might be fun to bring the girls over so they could see all the pomp and circumstance and Daddy in his new duds. They loved watching the processional. Rosie kept saying, “I see Doctor Daddy!”. And they were just as keen on the recessional but the part in between didn’t really capture their interest. But it was an important event for me. I got to see Sean, my husband of 16 years, walk down the aisle having finally completed this academic milestone that at times we thought might crush us both. I saw countless students whom we have gotten to know so well finally at the end of this part of their academic journey. It made me realise that although I will never enjoy living on the prairies and will continue to hope for a new adventure for us elsewhere, good things are happening here. Sean is an important part of those good things. He is loved and respected by so many students and colleagues alike. It was just good to take it all in. I am more proud of him for that than for finally being able to wear the funny hat.

~Mandy

6 comments:

Paul/Dad/Pops said...

From a distance, the gown looks more like a white cross - absolutely appropriate!

chrismarkbye said...

Where were those convocation photos taken Mand? Not at Hamilton Place...at Briercrest?

Mandy, Sean, Brookie and Rosie said...

Hey Chris! Yeah, Briercrest.

Mandy

ErinOrtlund said...

That is a milestone! Nice gown. Eric didn't buy one from Edinburgh because the whole thing was going to be something like 200 pounds or more--$400 at least! After this year's graduation, he told me he thought he was the only prof who just wore a generic black robe. I went looking online, and the Edinburgh robes are still stupidly expensive! I thought maybe he should talk an elderly Edinburgh PhD grad into including the robe in his will for Eric...

Mandy, Sean, Brookie and Rosie said...

Hi Erin. Yeah - Sean's getup wasn't cheap but with me and a few family members going in together, it made an appropriate grad gift.

It is crazy how much they charge!

ErinOrtlund said...

Hmmm...now that's an idea--I can see if his parents want to contribute....! Of course, I should have thought of that back when it didn't involve an overseas delivery.