"...Aid in the shaping and application of those wise restraints that make us free"

After three arduous years of much studying, sleepless nights spent in the library poring over the nuance of the law, and the stress of finding a job after his time there was done {coughcoughsnicker}, Eric graduated from Harvard Law School on Thursday, June 5, 2008.

OK, Eric may have done his fair share of work, and I, like the rest of you reading this, am very proud. For those of you who couldn't be with us to celebrate, here's a run-down of the day's festivities.

6:00a.m.: Rise and shine, it's graduation time! Robe on, hair coiffed -- let's do this thing.

7:00a.m.: Breakfast in Jarvis Field (outside The Hark) with the rest of the law school and their families

7:15a.m.: Make the (excessively long because we have to walk all the way around the yard) trek over to Tercentenary Theatre (which I'm pretty sure is the same as Harvard Yard). Wait.
7:45-9:45a.m.: Procession of graduates, alumni, and faculty (Note to Sara: don't pass out from mixing Sudafed with champagne...)
9:45a.m.: Festivities begin. Finally. An undergrad speaks for TEN MINUTES. In LATIN. Like whoa. Where are we again? Oh yeah -- Harvard. In addition to your requisite student speakers waxing poetic about the future, the "rewards and responsibilities" of a degree, and other cliche but no less inspiring and optimistic anecdotes, they bring up this girl who won -- which means she competed for -- the chance to speak at graduation. In Latin. By memorization. No script, no teleprompter, no notecards. She didn't even have crib sheets hidden in her hands. "Cursus Marathonensis apud Universitatem Harvardianam" ("The Harvard Marathon"). I kid you not. I didn't know Harvard could up the ante, and yet, I was even more impressed than I thought I could be at this point.

Sometime around 10:30a.m.: Dean Kagen presented her recommendation to President Drew Faust that the candidates for law degrees be conferred.

Seconds later: President Faust confers the degrees, bidding them to "...Aid in the shaping and application of those wise restraints that make us free"

...And the Harvard Law School Class of 2008 goes wild

10:30a.m.-11:30a.m.: Some other people speak and their degrees get conferred. Who cares! Eric's official! Our little Ericle graduated from Harvard Law School!!!

11:45 a.m.: Lunch at Holmes Field on the Law School campus, with the Law School Diploma Ceremony. Dean Elena Kagen spoke simply and (mostly) briefly on three points. ...of which I can't remember right now. I think the gist of it was to be happy, be good to each other, and to know that even if they fail, they always have Harvard to fall back on, because no one there would let them fall too far. It was very sweet, I assure you.

Then, Tajinder Singh bade us to tip well (for such a talented orator, his speech was a little belabored, but basically he encouraged the graduates to represent Harvard well because it has a good reputation now, so don't mess it up, gosh darn it!)

And the moment was upon us -- dun dahdah dahhnnn -- diplomas!

1:30p.m.: Cold, damp, tired, and maybe too inspired, we cut our day of festivities short to warm up back at the apartment where we watched -- on TV! -- Miss J.K. Rowling deliver her commencement speech to the Alumni Association and the entire graduating class via television.

To sum it up, Harvard's graduation definitely delivered on the gravitas. There certainly were light-hearted moments -- plastic toys and all -- but these kids knew they had undertaken and achieved something remarkable and were very pleased with themselves this Thursday in June. Deservedly, too, I might say.

Go Crimson!