You know it’s nearing finals when the frequency of false fire alarms at the university library is increasing. These stressed kids are smoking joints to relieve the tension. Sadly for them, the library’s smoke detectors are sensitive and automatic. Students think it’s okay to take a few drags in the bathroom (and it’s almost always the bathroom) and then next thing later the whole building is evacuating. No gripes from me, however: I can use the walk outside from actually working.
Also during work yesterday I attended - via Zoom - my best friend’s dissertation defense. It’s kind of wild to do one of these things virtually, but it had to be done since one of his advisors is still working remotely (must be nice, says me who now goes to campus the full five days). That said, the ease of logging into Zoom meant people could attend without having to travel. It was nice to see basically the entire friend group taking time out of their workday to be there for our soon-to-be doctor. And congratulations, he is officially a doctor now!
Just not the kind that resuscitate people during medical emergencies. He should remained seated when they ask if there’s a doctor on a plane.
It’s getting to my favorite time of the year working on a campus: graduation season. Coming out of the pandemic I reckon this will be the first year that ceremonies big and small will return live on campus. Back in the day when I did AV support for some of the events, I always got tremendous joy seeing the students attain their degrees after years of hard work (and play, let’s be honest). It’s the culmination, the finality, and opening the door to the next stage, that’s so rewarding to see.
Looking forward to my best friend’s ceremony in about two weeks’ time.
Fenced off.