Time to break out the Harry Potter costume

One of the things that I love most about my job is that it's a constant reminder of my own time spent in law school.  While I was definitely NOT that law student that completely devoured the law and everything about it, I loved law school for the social aspect.  Never in my life did I meet a better group of people all in one place.  I recognize I'm a little biased, but I'm still pretty sure that my graduating class was one of the best ever.  But even if that's just my skewed perspective, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in law school.  It's only natural that if you put a group of people together, expect them to master some of the most challenging material they've ever encountered, and compound that with the innate stress of law school then those people are going to bond tightly together.  (I've met some really great people throughout my life, but the friends I made in law school are, to this day, the ones I relate to the most and the ones that I continually gravitate back to whenever I can. We went through something together that you can't adequately describe to someone that hasn't been through it; for that reason, that bond we have is really tough to break)

So like I said, I love working in a law school because it always takes me back to that time in my life.  Sure, each semester I'm happy it's not me taking the final exams - and each February and July I'm happy it's not me taking the bar exam - but I see myself in my "kids" and I appreciate that reminder.  Part of my "job duties" each year include attending the spring commencement ceremony.  Today is that day this year...and so later this afternoon I'll get decked out in the very Harry Potter-like robes and put on the silly hat that makes me feel like a French painter for a few hours...and while my kids cross the stage one by one to get hooded, I'll be thinking back to my own graduation four (WOW! 4 already!?!) years ago.  For those of you unfamiliar with the attire, here's a picture of me on my own graduation day:

That was my tight "crew" in law school...Susan, Satyam, me, Chris and Navin.  All of us (minus Navin) were in the same legal writing class our first semester (which means we had all of our classes together for our entire first year) and that was the glue that held us together through law school and beyond.  Navin snuck into our little crew because he was Satyam's roommate and we loved him!  After this Fall, I'll have attended the weddings of 3/5 of us...just Chris and I are left carrying that "single" torch now. :)

The regalia I will don today is not identical to my FSU Law garb.  Substitute the above with black robes with purple accents (purple represents "law") and an all black hat with the more common-looking tassel and that will be me.  On the outside I'll be cheering on my kids, but on the inside, I'll be transported back to May 6, 2006 in Tallahassee, FL...looking up into the stands and seeing my Dad (not my Mom, mind you!) crying, my older brother and Mom beaming with pride, my friends shouting "Go, Do-Over!" as my name was read, Professor Gey (one of the greatest professors of all time, and an incredibly brave man who has been battling ALS for several years now) hooding me, and the stark realization that I had just completed a very important chapter in my life.

Good memories for a good day...