Emily's Graduation

It finally happened.  My lil sis graduated from undergrad on Saturday!  And by finally I don't mean she took extra time acquiring her B.A. in Social Work.  I just mean that we're all growing up and she's now joined the ranks of young adults searching for a job.  Huzzah! :)

The day was pretty uneventful.  I mean, there was the pre-ceremony attempt at keeping her hair tame.  Mom grabbed seats for us so Kyle and I had the privilege of walking in when the room was packed and still getting front row seats.  Then there was the camera fiasco.  Or should I say, video camera fiasco?  Mom thought she had grabbed the newest video camera (she compared the two she found and took the smaller one...which would be correct if those were the only two camera we had) and right at the beginning of when the Bachelor of Arts students walked across the stage, the camera went crazy and wouldn't function.  My mom normally takes video and photos at the same time on the video camera.  So Kyle and I served as the camera and video crew with our Sony digital camera and Kyle's iPhone, respectively.  The video turned our perfectly, but the photos were atrocious.  That camera takes great outdoor shots, but the indoor ones were terrible.  Kyle realized yesterday that we hadn't turned on the flash, but I'm not sure how much that would have helped since we were more than 25 feet from the stage...

Taken on my phone; Instagram.

Taken on my phone; Instagram.
I was wondering if these flags represented
the different countries the graduates were from.

Taken on my phone; Instagram.  My daddy.

My favorite moment of the graduation ceremony was after Emily left the stage.  Since our dad is a faculty member at The University of Findlay, he was sitting with his department to the left of the stage (which is also the side we were sitting on).  When Emily came down the steps, my dad walked up to her and they hugged.  It was so sweet!  Good thing it wasn't mom standing there...she would have been bawling and probably would never have let go. [love you, mom!]  :)

Proud father after the ceremony.

Note: the person who said Emily's name got our last name totally wrong.  Some how they managed to say her middle name "Naseem" correctly, but said "Samani" instead of "Samimi."  Yes, I'm serious.  And no, I don't understand how they butchered that so badly.

Cum Laude

After the Bachelor of Arts students had received their degrees, the Bachelor of Science roll call began.  The list was much longer (by several pages) and I realized that in order for us to have any hope at getting a picture of Emily walking through the arch (tradition at her school - they walk through it as freshman and walk out of it after the graduate; there's a tale that if someone walks out of it before graduating, they won't graduate) then we would need to get out there.  So I convinced my mom to let Kyle and I leave, which was awesome because those wooden chairs were very uncomfortable.  With our impeccable timing, we made it to the front of the area that was blocked off for photos, and almost dead center!  Then we had to wait for the ceremony to finish.  It took a while.  Then we realized we had no idea where Emily would be in the line-up to go through the arch.  She's so small that we almost missed her!  And all of the photos are awkward because, let's face it...it's Emily.  Juuust kidding!  She did a little dance after she saw us so I did my best to keep my finger on the button (it was set to take multiple photos at a time) and keep it pointed at her as she walked.

Emily walking through the arch.

And then came the task of finding her after she exited on the marked paths.  While making our way around the procession, I found my dad in the faculty line up (they lined either side of the path before the arch).

That's my daddy!

We finally met up with my mom after finding Emily.  I actually walked right past her, but luckily I have Kyle. :)

Samimi girls (minus Amber)

We then took some family photos.  Of course.

Dad & Emily 

Proud family (minus Amber)

Afterwards, dad took pictures with his students while mom and Emily set out to take pictures with Emily's friends and fellow Social Work students (which I guess also fall in the "friends" category, but those were the specifics we were given before we departed).  Kyle and I were going to head home to get Emily's wallet (i.e. her driver's license) so that we could divvy up the cars after her graduation party which was held at a friend's house near campus.  Since we knew it would be a while and we were both thirsty, Kyle & I stopped at George House.  Kyle got a chai milkshake and I got a raspberry french soda.  Delicious.  The family's plan had been to hit up Dietsch's for ice cream before the graduation party, but since it was getting late (the party was supposed to start at 4pm but we didn't even meet up with dad until 4:10pm) and we both finished off our beverages, we were happy when everyone agreed that Dietsch's was not an option anymore.

After the graduation party, Kyle & I headed home to hang out with mom & dad while Emily party hopped.  It was nice to relax with just the 'rents for a change.  We concluded our evening with a great game of Hokm.  Why was it great?  Kyle and I won.  And then we extended the game and won again.

Kyle talking tech with dad.

Dad happily shuffling cards.

And here is my tribute to my little sister, Emily.  I'm so proud of her for figuring out what she wants to do with her life and for pursuing her goals and dreams.  She is such a bright, energetic soul who is actively working towards changing the world for the better.  Here are the many faces of how much I love you, sis.  Go get 'em, tiger!  :)

I. Love. You.