HBS Graduation!

He did it!

We did it!

It’s over.

A few of my memories from graduation:

Graduation festivities started on Wednesday, class day, and my mom and I spent the morning painting the living room in our new place (we had the keys and waited to move until after graduation). We rushed back in time to change clothes and head over to the class day ceremony on Baker lawn. We packed snacks and tablets (with headphones) for the kids and a blanket because the day was a bit chilly. My sister, Maddie, arrived just before it started and it was nice to have a 2:1 adult to child ratio for the whole thing.

Mayor Bloomberg was fine as a keynote but the standout was Ben’s classmate, Brandon. He gave the student address and I could have listened to him talk all day. What he said was good but HOW he said it was remarkable (you can catch a recording here – not sure how long it will be up). Something about “daring to dance with the divinity within us” has stuck with me.

That night Ben and I stopped by a section get-together with his parents for a bit, a final chance to chat with some classmates that have become friends over the last two years. The walk across the river about did me in and I realized a morning of painting, two hours of sitting in folding chairs, and a lot of walking might have been too much at 7 months pregnant.

The next morning Ben was up early for traditional commencement in Harvard Yard with the rest of those graduating from Harvard University (not just the business school). From what I understand it was a lot of marching, tradition, and ceremony. You also had to be at the gates before 8 am to get a decent seat. I stayed back with the kids and we spent the morning prepping for graduation that afternoon. We scootered on campus to pick up a small gift for Ben (the kids also each picked out a candy for him from the school store….which they hoped he’d share with them). We caught a few minutes of the broadcast of Angela Merkel’s keynote address at the university commencement. We got wiggles out running around the lawn in front of Spangler before heading back for baths and getting everyone dressed.

There were boxed lunches we took to Baker lawn to save seats for the ceremony (very unappetizing Asian chicken salads) and we snapped a few pictures before we sent Ben off to sit with his classmates. I left our parents to take the kids over to the side family waiting area where they played with friends and watched a show while they started the ceremony.

When it was time for Ben’s section to line up, the kids from section B filed to the side of the stage to find their graduating parent. Ben took both kids and I rushed behind the stage with the stroller to watch them walk across and meet them at the other side.

I love the HBS tradition of kids walking across with their graduate. It made the whole day extra special for Lincoln & Adelaide (and it made for some very cute photo ops). Campus services had “HBS Kids” hats for the kids once they made it across the stage and they gave me an extra one for the HBS kid coming in August.

Ben was supposed to go back and sit with his section for the next 700 diplomas but after helping me out of the ceremony with the kids (whom I was taking home for naps + quiet time), he just came home with us. Walking through a mostly deserted campus with Ben in a cap and gown felt so surreal. How was it over already?

We had family over for snacks and then some of us headed over to the graduate reception before a group dinner put on by our friends in the LDSSA. It was a good way to get together one last time before everyone headed their separate ways and meet everyone’s family who was in town. Lincoln and Adelaide were thrilled to see friends that had been traveling for the last few weeks. So many of these friends on campus have become our very favorite people and saying goodbye to them has been the hardest part about school being over.

It was a busy + exhausting two days but that seems appropriate after a fast-paced, fun-filled two years. I get asked frequently if I’m excited that my husband is finally done with school and will be back to working…. and, honestly, I wish the b-school life could be just a little bit longer. We saw more of Ben, we saw more of friends, and we lived on the most beautiful, supportive, involved campus. It really has been the best two years and I am so grateful for it. A month out and we miss it already.

And here are some of the pictures from the day: