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U.S. Campus Life

Ending on a sweet note

By Masako Yamada


それぞれの卒業

ドイツ人の友達(青シャツの男性)の博士号取得を祝って開かれたホームパーティー。

Why have I used over a pound of butter and almost a dozen eggs within a few hours, making several kinds of cookies and cakes on a weekday evening? Because it's the end of the school year and a natural time for celebration.

Tomorrow evening, my music class will be having its final recital, and I will be accompanying five singers as they sing in front of their friends and family. As the pianist, this isn't really "my" recital. In this kind of recital, the singers usually wear colorful dresses and the accompanists wear black to blend in with the background. Indeed, I've been instructed to walk behind the piano and close to the back of the stage. This will allow the singer to be highlighted up front.

I've come to think of the singers in my class as friends, and I enjoy supporting them. Besides, it's far less stressful — and more enjoyable — not to have to be on stage by myself. There will be a reception after the recital, a casual and homey affair where each member of the class contributes one or two items. Some people will bring wine and cheese, others will bring chips and salsa. I can't imagine having a party without sweets, so I've volunteered to bake cookies. I'll be moving to New York in a few months, so this will be my last recital at the New England Conservatory (NEC). I've studied at NEC for five years, so it will be like a graduation recital. I know it will be a modest but joyful ending.

Commencement weekend at Boston University begins the day after the recital, and I'm planning on going to several parties and receptions for this occasion too. One of my friends is planning a barbecue in his backyard. Again, this will be a potluck event, and I have volunteered to bring some cakes. His mother, grandmother, two brothers and a longtime friend are flying in from Germany to see him get his Ph.D. Not only do they want to celebrate his accomplishment, they also want to meet the friends he has made in the United States. I am very happy to be a part of this celebration.

You see, I will be participating this commencement weekend from the sidelines, as an enthusiastic friend, partygoer and snack food provider . . . but not as one of the spotlighted students on stage. Much like my role in the music recital, my role here is strictly supportive. But in a certain sense, I'll be celebrating my own graduation at Boston University, as well.

I wish I could be up there with my friends to wear a puffy hat and receive my diploma, but I still have to wrap up some work this summer, and I'll be defending my thesis and handing in my dissertation in September. There are only two graduation dates per year at Boston University, so this means that my official graduation date will not be until January 2003.

The students who graduate in January do not have the same outdoor receptions in big white tents as students who participate in the commencement ceremony in May. I'll be getting my diploma sent through the mail in January. I'll have the opportunity to return to Boston University to walk down an aisle wearing a puffy hat in May 2003, but I don't plan on participating. It would seem silly, considering that I would have been working for over half a year by then. The university would give me a decorative diploma case just so I wouldn't look out of place among the students who would actually be getting their diplomas, but the diploma case would be empty. My diploma would be at home.

I'm not interested in large ceremonies with lavish decorations and heavy rituals, so I can't say that I'm disappointed that I won't be sitting in a crowded football stadium with thousands of other people, listening to boring speeches. I can hardly stand the idea of sitting through my own Commencement, much less subject my friends and family to the same ordeal.

However, I do like marking life's joyful accomplishments with loved ones, and I can't think of any better way to celebrate than with food. I don't know whether I could fully express my joy by making fried rice or chicken soup or potato salad. Even luxury foods like caviar and lobster don't seem quite celebratory enough. So I'm bringing sweet tidbits instead to end things properly. I'm up to my arms in flour and sugar, but I'm happy.


Shukan ST: May 31, 2002

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