This Graduation Day 2020

As I think back to my graduation, what stands out is a grey suit jacket, a grey suit jacket that I purchased from Tip Top Tailors. I remember sizing was completely new to me. Unlike track pants, I was to discover that suit jackets are not just Small, Medium and Large. There are chest measurements involved, and jacket length too—labelled as Short or Regular….or at least mine was. The fabric was slightly stiff, the smell was new, suburban outlet mall new. I was excited; I had never bought such an item before.

Of course, I also recall my family, my friends, my professors, my teachers. And as I looked around on graduation day at all my classmates, I wondered why we all purchased new duds, when they were only to be hidden under recently-rented graduation robes. As I have gotten older, I see more the purpose and the joy in marking milestones. I have also seen how sometimes it is easy to let such markers pass without much notice. These times are difficult, these times are fraught, these times are daunting. But these times also offer us the possibility of change, of hope, of a new age. Maybe it is in times like these that we need to most especially recognize and lift up your life achievements.

The class of 2020 is coming of age in a difficult age. Your decisions will likely be more complex than choosing the right suit jacket. But for right now, on This Graduation Day, in this moment, we salute you. We honour you, and we celebrate with you. Congratulations Class of 2020.
This Graduation Day was written and performed by Scott Anthony Andrews and produced by Ryan Hicks in celebration of the graduates from the Faculty of Education, the University of Regina.