It's official! My boy has graduated and is practically an adult. It is such a strange feeling to look at pictures of him as a Kindergartener and as a Senior because it seems as if no time has passed at all, yet so much has happened in between. The same smart, mature boy stares at me in both of these pictures, and I am allowing myself to feel all the feels... happiness, pride, sadness, nostalgia, and lots of love.
The last month of school was crazy busy for him with lots of graduation things, end-of-year award assemblies, AP tests, etc. It seemed like we barely had time to come up for air before graduation was upon us. Provo High's graduation was held on May 22, 2024 in the UCCU Center on UVU campus. Christian had to be there early for pictures and practice, and the rest of us showed up about an hour before it actually started. We got great seats on the front row. Jonathon's family showed up to support him. Grandma, Grandpa, Sam, Amanda, Tera, and Tiffany all came. That was very nice of them because graduations can be very boring. Grandpa and Grandma Christensen were sad to miss the special occasion, but being on a mission on an island in the middle of the ocean was a good excuse. I know they would have been there if they could have.
The graduation started with a few songs and a couple of talks from fellow students. The only one that really stuck with me was given by Sydney Carter. She spoke about the idea of the "healed femur" that goes like this:
“A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead, 'What is the earliest sign of civilization?' The student expected her to say a clay pot, a grinding stone, or maybe a weapon.
Margaret Mead thought for a moment, then she said, “A healed femur.”
A femur is the longest bone in the body, linking hip to knee. In societies without the benefits of modern medicine, it takes about six weeks of rest for a fractured femur to heal. A healed femur shows that someone cared for the injured person, did their hunting and gathering, stayed with them, and offered physical protection and human companionship until the injury could mend.
Mead explained that where the law of the jungle—the survival of the fittest—rules, no healed femurs are found. The first sign of civilization is compassion, seen in a healed femur.”
- Ira Byock, from his 2012 book “The Best Care Possible: A Physician’s Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life”
She then spoke about how all the graduates had experienced help and compassion from others in order to get to graduation and then challenged them to make service and compassion part of their path moving forward. I thought it was a lovely talk and life goal.
Christian's graduating class had 486 students, so it took a long time to read through all those names, but it was worth it for the 10 seconds where we got to yell and cheer for our boy. He got to wear three cords with his gown, 2 for having over 30 college credits completed through concurrent enrollment at UVU, and one for graduating magna cum laude (top 10%). He also had a "lei" made up of micro-tubes made by his biotechnology class for him. I thought it was a nice nerdy touch.
Apparently, the kids pulled a senior prank during graduation, and each one of them handed the principal a golf ball when they went to shake her hand. Ha! She handled it like a total professional, and I had no idea it was even happening until Christian told me afterward. When it was all over, they moved their tassels to the other side and threw their caps (even though that was technically against the rules). We then went outside and took some pictures. It was a happy day, and we were very proud of Christian!
To celebrate, we invited everyone to Menchie's frozen yogurt, which is one of our favorite dessert spots. We enjoyed chatting with everyone and had a great time! It made me a little sad to know that our family won't be all together like that for much longer.
Christian's other important graduation happened the Sunday before when he graduated from Seminary. A lot of people don't know this, but in order to serve in several missions around the world, you have to be a Seminary graduate. Brazil is one of those countries because you have to show ecclesiastical training to get a missionary visa. So not only was Seminary a huge part of Christian's gospel learning, but it also changed the course of his life by allowing him to go to Brazil. Christian has always been a great scholar who knows the scriptures particularly well. In fact, during Sacrament meeting, one of his Sunday School teachers called him out during her talk and said it was always her goal to try to teach Christian one new thing during her lesson. She said it was a challenge because Christian basically taught the class for her most weeks. I have heard the same thing from multiple people over the years. I don't want him to come across as a know-it-all, but I sure love that he knows the scriptures so well. It will serve him well in the future. We love our graduate!
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