Pomp and Circumstance

It was graduation day at Penn yesterday and our oldest son received his second Master's Degree, a Masters in Architecture from the School of Design. Together with his undergraduate degree in architecture and his Masters in Urban Design from the London School of Economics, he has become the most highly educated person in our immediate family--a fact we hope will make him highly sought after by employers!

In this tight job market, he has decided to go into real estate development and he hopes to actually work for our new managing director in Philadelphia. He has a lot of irons in the fire, job wise, and we are sure that something will pan out.

For now, it is enough to bask in his accomplishments and sing his praises--something that graduation gives us a chance to do. And Penn does it very well. Lots of academic regalia, brass, bagpipers and accolades as newly minted graduates prepare to make their marks.

Michael Bloomberg spoke at the official university wide ceremony in Franklin Field in the morning, which was followed by the smaller School of Design program in the afternoon. Bloomberg was excellent. He talked about the values he looks for in a political candidate: honesty, innovation, independence and integrity and how we shouldn't be afraid to demand that of our elected officials.

These are values we shouldn't be afraid to demand of anyone in positions of power, especially if those positions involve the welfare of others.

Unfortunately often these words go in one ear and out the other. As the Dean of the School of Design told us after awarding all the diplomas, there is a great story about the former president of M. I. T. An alum of that university reminded the president that he had been a great influence on his life because of the two words he told him when he handed him his diploma. "And what might those two words have been?" the president asked. "Well there was a long line behind me and it was backing up so you shook my hand and told me to keep moving," the alumnus replied. "It's been great advice."

Here's to moving on.