Wednesday June 12 was convocation day for the Faculty of
Science. At two convocation ceremonies that day, almost 1,000 undergraduate and
graduate Science students received their degrees. The day was full of pomp and
ceremony as befits a milestone event in one’s life. The venue seats almost
2,000 people and almost every seat was taken. Excited students. Proud parents.
Eager friends.
As per tradition, I had to wear my formal academic garb. In
the picture below I am dressed in the colors of the University of Waterloo
(Ph.D., 1986). With my beefeater hat and long flowing garb, I felt like I was a
member of a medieval court. Ah, the things Deans must do to provide photo ops
for proud parents.
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| Science Honorary degree recipient James Balog. Check out his amazing photography at http://www.jamesbalog.com. |
On stage, my job was to shake the hand of each graduating
Science student. They enter the stage as a graduand and after shaking my hand they
officially become a graduate. Over the two ceremonies, I had to congratulate
roughly 500 students (many did not show up). Do you know how tiring it is to
stand on stage and shake 500 hands? Further, I wanted to say something personal
to teach of them, something more than just “Congratulations”. It’s easy to have
original comments for the first few dozen, then it becomes tiring and I lapsed
into using several stock phrases. My throat was sore by the end of the day.
As each student approached center stage, I tried to look directly
into their eyes. Some students were bubbling over with excitement – after all
this was the culmination of many years of hard work! Other students appeared to
be absolutely terrified – as if being on stage in front of 2,000 of their
peers, family and friends was a horrific ordeal. My job was to try and capture
their attention, flash a broad smile, and make subtle gestures to welcome them
forward for the traditional handshake. For some, I think I made a small
difference in relieving the stress. For others, it remained a scary experience.
Let’s do some math:
- Over 900 undergraduates (pretend it is 900).
- Each student takes 40 courses in their degree program.
- Each course has 39 hours of lectures and an average of 1.5 hours of labs per week (roughly 20 hours).
- Homework at the rate of 3 hours for each hour of lecture. That’s the official line, if you believe it.
Grand total? 900 x 40 x (39 + 20 + 39x3) = 6.3 million hours
of learning. Another way of looking at
it is that each student spent an average of 62 hours studying per week for each
of 8 terms (14 weeks/term with 5 courses per term). Life as a university
student isn’t easy!
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| Science Honorary degree recipient Ian Stirling. Almost 40 years of work in the Canadian North raising awareness of the plight of polar bears. |
I had an epiphany on graduation day. Over breakfast that
morning I listened in on a discussion of the vast wealth that Alberta has under
the ground (oil and natural gas). It was yet another debate on the pros and
cons of the oil sands: does economic benefit trump environmental impact?
Later that morning, as I sat on stage staring out at several
hundred students about to graduate, it occurred to me that I was looking at the
real wealth of Alberta. These students were about to embark on exciting
careers, careers that will help shape the economic prosperity of Edmonton,
Alberta and even Canada. Who knows what these talented people will do? Start
new companies? Make exciting scientific discoveries? Give back to the
community? All I know today is that our graduates have an important tool in
their career arsenal – a high quality University of Alberta education. What
they do with it is up to them, but I’m confident this year’s graduating class
will enrich our lives. Young eager minds ready to make their mark in the world is
the real wealth of Alberta.
Congratulations to this year’s graduating class. You should
be very proud of your accomplishments. The Faculty of Science is honored to
have played an important part in your life.
