Graduation Process

            If I may candid here at the start I had no idea how complex the graduation process was.  I had initially simply assumed that if someone simply had the credits they would be awarded a diploma upon completion of the necessary classes.  In fact I have to wonder if all the perfunctory hoops that graduates need to jump through are truly necessary beyond just cementing that it is their intention to graduate and leave the university.  I understand some requirements of the graduation process such as the capstone project.  Making sure that graduates from majors like communication design or computer science or even televisual arts have a large portfolio of work to display to perspective clients and employers is a noble goal and one that permeates nearly every aspect of these majors and the capstone serves as the pinnacle of that goal.  But some of these other aspects of the process feel a bit like artificial goal markers inserted to inflate the process or if I were feeling uncharitable; restrict student’s opportunities for graduation to prolong their attendance to the university.  Other aspects come off like leftovers, outdated and vestigial procedures from a previous that really should be streamlined out of the graduation process given the advent of superior technologies that could easily expedite the process.  All speculation and griping aside however this was a thoroughly informative presentation that really conveyed to me the structure of the graduation process and everything that I need to do to complete this process.  Though my own graduation isn’t until spring of 2016 I recognize the importance of early preparation to ensure the process of graduating is a decidedly smooth and easy one, after all there’s no telling if I might find a way to expedite my own goals and graduate earlier than 2016 in which case being prepared is very important.