After the ceremony, Liz's mother and I joined other friends who had come to celebrate the occasion for picture-taking, with much better results. My daughter is at least fortunate that she will have a job as a reservations coordinator at UC Davis throughout the end of the summer. She hasn’t decided whether she wants to pursue a career in radio or TV broadcasting, but at least she has a few months to consider her options and apply for positions.
Monday morning after getting together for coffee and bagels at Starbucks on campus, my daughter had me walk with her to work. She introduced me to her supervisor and co-workers and then showed me her small cubicle. At least she has a window with a nice view. On her desk is a two-foot-high trophy. "That was here from the last person who worked here," she said. "I thought it made a nice decoration, so I left it as it was."
As I walked back to my car after we had said our goodbyes, it struck me how odd this journey through life can be. It was 29 years ago when I graduated from California State University Long Beach with a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Then, I did not reflect on the past; instead, I looked toward the future. I envisioned myself developing a career as a writer and teacher, and even dreamed of maybe teaching overseas someday. It never occurred to me, though, that I would have a daughter who would one day graduate from UC Davis.
I turned and looked at the building where my daughter was settling in for her day at work. As she shapes her dreams over the summer about the beginning of her next journey, I hope that 29 years from now she will be as amazed with the events that have transpired in her life as I am with the events that have transpired in mine.
Article comments
1 - Joanne Huspek
I had much of the same thoughts as my son graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory in May.
Time marches on, doesn't it?
2 - klondikekitty
Nice nostalgic article, Mr. Cunningham, but the thing that struck me the most was the descriptive passages of the town of Davis and the college campus which gave the impression you had never been there before . . . Your daughter has been a student at this college for the last four years, and you never visited her ONCE during the entire time??
3 - S L Cunningham
Yes, it does. Congratulations on your son's graduation.