TigerBlog: To The Class Of 2019

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

To The Class Of 2019

TigerBlog stood on the grass outside of Nassau Hall around 1 yesterday afternoon as the recessional from Commencement was in full swing.

At one point, a father asked him if he would take a picture of the family. That would be the first of four such requests.

TB is also pretty sure he found his way into the background of about 100 pictures, since people were posing everywhere. If you have a picture with someone you can't identify in a bright orange pullover, it was probably TB.

This is a common scene at graduation. There was something that TB had seen never before, in all the years he's gone over to watch the ceremony and its aftermath.

One young man in his cap and gown walked past TB and then heard his name called. He turned, and there were, presumably, his parents. First he got a hug and a congratulations from what appeared to be his father.

Then a woman who TB guesses was the young man's mother went to give him a hug, only she paused just before she got to him. And then she just smiled - and then burst into tears.

TB almost teared up watching it. Almost.

That instantly vaulted to be TB's favorite part of graduation. His second favorite was watching the Princeton athletes, now graduates, getting together one more time as teammates, posing with families and coaches.

Speaking of coaches, if you think it's emotional for the parents, imagine the coaches. They first saw these athletes when they were, what, 15 or 16? And, in accordance with all NCAA rules about contacting prospective student athletes, they began to form relationships with them.

Eventually, they'd come to coach them through four years of ups and downs, with hopefully more of the first than the second. They are intense relationships, between coach and player, even the best players. The dynamic is one where the mentor is trying to push the student to achieve at the very highest level, all while maintaining the other side of the relationship, the one that cares for that athlete as an individual.

And then they get to graduation.

There are two things that seem to be true each year at the ceremony. First, it doesn't matter what time TB gets there or where he's standing; the first person he sees will be men's soccer coach Jim Barlow.

Second, the men's lacrosse players, whom TB wanted to get a picture of, are going to be among the last to walk out.

Both were true again yesterday.

By the time the the lacrosse guys made their way past the area where TB was standing, he'd seen pretty much every other team. It's such a wonderful sight - athletes who wore different versions of orange and black with "Princeton" on them now all wearing caps, gowns and smiles.

After all, they did it. They started off as green freshmen on orientation, and they made it all the way to Nassau Hall on this Tuesday. Every single one of them grows through the process, and the final product is extraordinary to see.

TB could go on and on about graduation. Instead, he'll cut it short today and simply show you (and a big congratulations to all of the members of the Class of 2019):