Master

 Todd's graduation day was perfect.

We met our Mormon buddies at breakfast before Final Exercises. Who are we kidding--the Teuschers, Moons, Millers, and Jacksons are pretty much our only friends. We love them!

The Final Exercises (commencement) are held on the Lawn. The ceremony begins with some important person carrying a scepter thing that was given to the university by one of its secret societies 50 years ago. Then a bunch of dignitaries, flag bearers, and graduates walk the length of the Lawn. The MBAs were the first group to walk, we barely spotted them thanks to Tom's beard. There were SO MANY PEOPLE. A lot of the grads carried distinctive balloons so their families could spot them. Smart!

Katie Couric was the main speaker. She was spunky, slightly irreverent, and mentioned Prince William at least twice (my kind of gal). The ceremony was extremely long, and it got a little old. But I'm a sucker for tradition and pageantry, so Jim, Cheri and I sat through pretty much the whole thing even though we were sitting in direct sunlight (painfully, just one row away from the shade).

After Finals were over, we headed to Darden for the real deal, convocation. The first speaker was epically bad, the second was great, and the whole thing was a bit surreal.

 

 I was worried the announcer would butcher our last name. But luckily one of Todd's favorite teachers did the announcing and had clearly practiced the pronunciations.

  

Acknowledging his vocal fans.

Name pronounced right, smiled in my direction, didn't trip. Mission accomplished.

Yes, that is his real diploma. Unlike most schools, UVa has a delay between final exams and graduation so teachers can assign grades and the *actual*, ribbon-tied giant diplomas can be handed out at the ceremonies. One of the many little traditions I love about UVa.

 Hooded! 

Diploma in hand! 

Graduated!

We're so glad we had some of our Ballantyne family there to support Todd/us.

And our Zornes family, too! These two took a red eye and drove for three hours, arriving just as the Final Exercises began. Total troopers.

 Caitlin won the accessory prize looking beautiful in her sassy fascinator. 

Darden was tough to get into and tough to get through-- Todd worked very hard for that big piece of paper! But we loved our experience at Darden and we'll miss it very much!