Our Grandson, Tyler, Graduates From Dartmouth's Thayer School Of Engineering

Tyler, A Proud Graduate Of Dartmouth College

Tyler And Family

It's just 6:00 as I look out the kitchen window at the backyard filled with the green of trees.  We hope to be packed up and our way to the Dartmouth College graduation by 8:00.  We are not going to worry much about getting seats, just hope to find some shade under a tree and set up a blanket.  If we wanted good seats, we would have had to pay students to save them for us starting at 5:00.  There's not much to see, our grandson walking across a stage in the distance once.  We are looking forward, however, to the speaker, Jake Tapper, from CNN.

Yesterday we left for Dartmouth around 7:30 and stopped at the neat Farmer's Market in Woodstock, for a breakfast sandwich.  It's both a nursery with lots of plants and a deli with great sandwiches and cheeses. We got to Hanover around 8:15,  parked in a municipal lot and got to the auditorium by 8:30 in time to save seats for the Albarrans.

Graduation

I have to admit I was not looking forward to another graduation.  A quick count suggests this might be the 50th  graduation I have attended, two of my own, forty five as a teacher, three grandsons high school graduations, and now my first grandchild graduates from college.

So it was with a minimum of excitement that I sat down to another graduation, this time Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering.  And to my surprise, I was moved, by the accomplishments of all these young engineers,  the words of their mentors.  All the political unrest of the past six months melted away as I listened to the speakers talk about these young people and their accomplishments. There was hope, even magic in the air as they donned their robes.  We do live in a special place and our colleges are special,  many of the best in the world, filled with elites if you wish but we want our young people to be the best.

Tyler Waiting For Diploma

The graduates were a picture of the new America, lots of diversity and at least 50 of the engineers were women.

A Proud Engineer From Ghana

The Dean encouraged them to use what they have learned for the betterment of humanity, the environment, the world. And finally, he asked them to speak up, for facts, for data based learning, for science.  And added, engineers, are among the most admired professions in the US, right up there with nurses and doctors for their sense of purpose and the pursuit of the truth.  He was truly inspirational, a wee bit political, emphasizing the importance of science and data-based learning in these divisive times.  I was encouraged and thought of Faulkner's famous line from his Nobel Prize winning speech: "We will not only endure but prevail,' and it will be because of kids like those I watched receive diplomas today.

The Gang

After the ceremony, everyone adjourned to the Thayer Engineering building where tents were set up and a buffet was available for the graduates and their families.  We spent about an hour there, having lunch, talking with families and taking pictures.  About 2:30, Tyler wanted to go to King Arthur Flour, about 15 minutes away.

King Arthurs Dining Area

We spent a good hour or more at the complex, enjoying another lunch of sandwiches and root beer and doing some browsing.  On the way back to campus, we picked up some beers for Tyler and ended up at the campus bookstore so Tyler could buy a few more Dartmouth jackets or tee shirts before heading off to his internship in Boston.

Evie and I drove back to Mac's, stopping first in the Woodstock Library to see Mac and his helper, Nathan, and then returned to his condo.  I immediately went downstairs and took a much needed nap as I had been up since 5:00.  Mac was back around 5:30, so we sat around talking, enjoyed a beer and cheese and crackers.  Before we left for dinner, both Evie and I showered once again to get our mojo back and drove off to Norwich, to Carpenter & Main, one of the better restaurants in the area.

Carpenter & Main Bar

When we got there, the kids had not arrived yet so we sat at the bar and had a glass of wine until they arrived.  Rami's sister Letty made it finally from NYC so there were seven of us for dinner.  We had hoped Tyler's girlfriend Helen could make it but she was too exhausted from her return trip from Portland, Oregon, where she ran in NCAA track championship.

Dinner With Letty

A Proud Mom And Grandfather

Dinner was prix fixe, like the night before at the Prince & Pauper in Woodstock.  This time we got two appetizers, one entree and two desserts, which made decision making a real problem.  We sat down around 8:15 and did not get up until 10:30, enjoying our food, the fun of being with our family and new college graduate and, of course, a couple bottles of wine.  We did not get back to Mac's until after 11:00, talked with him briefly before falling into bed.