Vijay Philip
Vijay graduated from the University of New South Wales and from the University of Auckland. He graduated with Distinction both from the
Univerity of Auckland (in Accounting and Finance) and the University of NSW (Finance). Vijay was awarded the Senior Prize for Accounting from
Auckland University and also became member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honors Society having graduated in the top 10%.
After a whole year of hard slog and endless nights spent studying at the University Library (we'll have to take his word for it!),
it was very gratifying for Fifi, Jose and Vivek to be able to attend Vijay's graduation from the University of NSW,
one of Australia's leading universities.
Interestingly, Vijay graduated from two different institutions in the space of about a year - the first from the University of Auckland,
where he completed his studies for a B.Com degree and more recently his B.Com(Honours). Jose, Fifi, and Vivek could'nt attend his
graduation in Auckland because of work committments and so were happy that they got the chance to attend his graduation ceremony in Sydney.
Graduation ceremonies in Australian are very solemn and formal affairs and seem like a
throwback to some medieval English period with one of the professors on stage carrying
a rather large University mace. However, it was very well organised and enlivened by
the Vice-Chancellor (an MBA from Wharton, one might add) who had a fine, self -
deprecatory sense of humour.
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Finally, after all the graduates received their degrees, the ex-governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (akin to the the Chairman of the
US Federal Reserve) received his Honorary doctorate.
After the conclusion of the ceremony, a few family photos were taken, but for some reason,
the pictures seem rather distorted and beyond redemption even using Photoshop (the faces seem
like characters from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer)
Vijays's graduation was celebrated at a Lebanese restaurant with lots of kebabs,tabouleh and falafel!
Vijay reaching this landmark in his journey is a gratifying event and his family's hopes and prayers are
summed up beautifully in Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the Lord whatever you do,and your plans will succeed"
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Susannah Joseph
Susannah graduated from Virgina Commonwealth University (VCU) with two diplomas - one in Business(Real Estate) and the other in Humanities
(Religious Studies). The graduation on May 17th was in Richmond, VA which is about a 2 hour drive from where
Peter & family live in northern Virginia. She and Emmy attend school at VCU which,
from the latest accounts, has the largest student body in the state.
Richmond certainly projects being one of the older cities in Virginia with its numerous narrow and treelined
streets as well as older looking buildings. In some ways the university to city relationship reminds one of the
temple cities of India where the city is built out in concentric circles with the temple as the center, though
this maybe a narrow viewpoint of the city since there are historical buildings all around, such as the Virginia
Capitol building and the Richmond city townhall. After all, it was Thomas Jefferson who moved the capital from
Williamsburg to Richmond and was intimately involved in the design of many of the government buildings.
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College graduations here are marked typically by two ceremonies. The main one, or commencement, and the second
one which is when the diploma is actually awarded, held by the various schools. Given that Susannah received two diplomas,
one in Business and the other in Humanities she had to choose through which school
she wanted her diplomas awarded to her and chose the Business school. It was an interesting and fun time
for every one especially since she was surrounded by many of her friends who hung out with the family until evening
keeping them entertained . She intends to work or find "gainful" employment, at least until she decides to go for
further studies. And so the fun begins.
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Peter, Shiny, Sarah, Emmy and, of course,
Susannah had a celebration dinner at a Thai restaurant and left the next morning back to Sterling.
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Amit Joseph
Amit graduated summa cum laude, from the George Washington University (GWU), in Washington DC with a BA in Biology.
He is at GWU
in the 7 year BA/MD program which entails completing a BA degree in three years and then enrolling at GWU medical school
for four years.
The graduation ceremonies involved three events. Rana & Mini together with Mukul, Saira, Richard and DJ were present
to participate in Amit's special day.
On the morning of May 17th, we attended a ceremony in which Amit was
inducted into Phi Beta Kappa - the nation's oldest and most prestigious academic honor society. There were approximately 60 students
inducted out of a
graduating student body of approximately 5,000. For those not familiar with Phi Beta Kappa check out
this link and a lot more information appears
in Wikipedia.
Following the
induction, there was a reception and then the family members proceeded to a lunch at Washington Harbor - at a restaurant which Amit
chose as being his
preference. He said that it was a restaurant he could not afford as a student but since his parents were paying for it, the choice was easy!
The setting was beautiful and the weather was great.
In the afternoon, there was a graduation ceremony for the students of the Columbia College of Arts and Sciences -
one of GWU's several colleges. It was at this event that Amit was awarded his degree. It was a very well attended event
since there are several thousand students who graduated and each student was allowed to bring up to six family
members/friends.
The main ceremony on Sunday, May 18 - the commencement - attended by all graduating students from the different colleges that comprise GWU
was held on the mall in Washington DC. The mall is the name used for the large park-like area where many of the famous monuments one associates with
Washington DC, etc are located. We were told that GWU was the only university in the country that was allowed to hold its commencement/graduation
ceremonies at the mall.
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The setting was nothing short of spectacular with a perfect view of the Capitol located behind the dais where the
speakers and other officials were seated. The only negative was that towards the latter part of the ceremony, there
was a light drizzle. There must have been over 25,000 attendees at this event. There were several very large screen televisions to enable attendees
seated some way from the dais to view the proceedings. The graduates - approximately 7000 of
them - entered in a procession to the sound of bag-pipes and took their seats.
The commencement speaker was Julian
Bond, a prominent leader in the civil rights movement who marched with Martin Luther King Jr in days gone by. He
gave an inspirational speech - one of the better ones that we have heard at such commencement ceremonies. He mentioned that his grandfather was a slave
and emphasized the role education had played in the lives of his family. His final adomnition to the students was that every person can make a
difference in improving society and the world we live in.
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It was a busy weekend what with all of the graduation ceremonies - and then on Sunday evening there was a bar-b-que for just family
members to
celebrate both Amit's graduation as well as a belated birthday bash for Mini. Attending were Mukul, Saira, Richard and DJ, Peter, Shiny, Sarah and
Emmy, Ashok - Alex's son - with his wife, Tara and Stephanie - Richard's sister - with her
husband Jeff and daughter Hannah.
Amit will, in August 2008, commence studying medicine at GWU Medical School.
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