Four days until graduation

I’ve reached just past halfway in the countdown now. With just four days until graduation, it’s time to take a look back, and take a walk down memory lane.

Moment 4: “The Beginning” (Sept. 19, 2007)

Referees blow their whistles, the umpire yells, “Play Ball,” a cap gun is shot, a green flag is dropped. All of these things signal the beginning of my favorite things in the world—sporting events. But how do you signal the start of a school day, the start of a school career?

If you’re in grade school or high school, you might hear the dreaded bell, then announcements from teachers and administrators. So, imagine my shock when, after twelve years of nearly the same routine, I walked into a college classroom and didn’t hear a bell, didn’t hear announcements and just started learning.

Sort of.

I can remember all the same feelings I had when I began high school. ‘This place is huge. How will I ever fit in? Will any of these people know me? How many of them are cool enough to be my friend?’

I can also remember the class: Probability and Statistics 147. The teacher’s name was Dr. Horn. He walked in, and if he weren’t a few years older, you could have mistaken him for a student. He carried a backpack like the rest of us.

“For some of you this might be your first ever college class,” he said. “Welcome.”

‘All right,’ I thought. ‘This won’t be too bad after all.’

And it wasn’t bad at all. Each of the classrooms I visited was inviting enough for me to think I was back in high school again. It didn’t hurt that I was in a “Learning Community” with about 20 other students for two of the class meetings on that day.

We bonded, and introduced ourselves to one another three different times. We all quickly figured out a lot about one another (And for more on someone I met that day, check out this: http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-best-friend.html).

Even though I had been working on campus with the football team since late July, I found the first day to be somewhat scary. There were a ton of people around, most of them, surprise, surprise, I did not know. It’s kind of tough to know roughly 25,000 other people, I know.

Things that were normally easy to do, like walking into the Tangeman University Center to grab lunch, were now an adventure, thanks to the throngs of fellow Bearcats who were back for class.

Even four years after day one, I still get skittish on the first day of each quarter. I still have those same, ‘How tough is this class going to be?’ thoughts rolling through my head.

But you can’t have graduation without first getting through day one. I found my way through it, and looking back, it was just another day on the campus of the University of Cincinnati.

I didn’t need a whistle or a bell to start my college career. But it would be darn cool to see President Williams wave a checkered flag on Saturday afternoon during graduation. We’ll see if he takes my advice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

That was moment No. 4 on the countdown toward graduation, which takes place at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. I will find the link to the webcast for those of you who can’t travel to Cincinnati to watch me take “the walk.” Until then, enjoy your Tuesday, and thanks for reading.

If you missed any of the other countdown stories, click the links below:

No. 10- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/10-days-until-graduation.html

No. 9- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/nine-days-until-graduation.html

No. 8- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/eight-days-until-graduation.html

No. 7- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/one-week-until-graduation.html

No. 6- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/six-days-until-graduation.html

No. 5- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/five-days-until-graduation.html