the graduation

When I asked my son what he was going to wear for his graduation, he stated jeans and a t-shirt. I told him that these were rather smart affairs and suggested a suit.
We arrived at the university at about 5:00 p.m. There he was. He had brought a white shirt and a tie but he was still wearing denims and sneakers.
The clothes were not suitable. Luckily, I had dressed for the occasion with a pair of black pin-stripe pants. We swapped. Having lost ten kilograms in the last few months means that we now both wear a size 32.
The shoes were slightly more of a problem. He had to wear my size 10 shoes, but I couldn't get into his size nines. I spent the next 2 1/2 hours in socks.
The graduation ceremony proved to be a little more interesting than expected. UNISA had decided to confer an honorary doctorate on Don Mattera. The introduction provided some background on his life. Then he responded with a very eloquent speech. He talked about UNISA and its apartheid past and how he had wanted to destroy it. Then he spoke about ubuntu, urging the university to open a faculty dedicated to nurturing ubuntu.
I always find these graduation ceremonies a little strange, with the medieval attire, processions and formality of the whole affair. Yet there is something of value here. The ceremony is part of the process of transformation that comes with education. When your degree has been conferred on you at the ceremony it somehow makes it real.
When I completed my first degree, I did not attend a graduation. That diminished the degree somewhat in my eyes.