Another HOG Graduation

Old Main, University of Arkansas, Public Domain Picture

Son Ryan graduated from the University of Arkansas this Saturday, following his brother Michael who graduated from the UofA in 2009.  There sister Stephanie has about a year left to graduate from BYU, all depending upon how much school she can attend while she also works while living in Salt Lake City area.  Health issues had interfered with her progress....but she is doing so much better now.

But Saturday was Ryan's day...and it was a great day for all of us...for Mom, Granddad, Grandparents who could not attend, Uncles, Aunts and Cousins who could not attend, Brother, Sister, Step-parents, and of course, Dad (me).  But it was most important to the person who earned the degree....Ryan.  The official name of his degree is Bachelor of Science in Education - Kinesiology.  If you want to know what this is/does, visit the UofA webpage on Kinesiology.  Luckily for Ryan, he just recently landed a job as a physical therapist technician for two Chiropractors in Fayetteville.  Which is great since he is very seriously considering going to Chiropractic School to become a Chiropractor himself.  He intends to apply at the Cleveland Chiropractic College - Kansas City Campus later this year.  It might take a little while to get in, but they told him that it looked like he qualified.  The Cleveland Chiropractic College is one of the better Chiropractic Schools in the nation, founded in 1922.

There he is above seated between two blond girls, actually paying attention to the speaker, soaking in the experience.

The ceremony started with a nice rendition of the National Anthem.

And a few quick moments by a few school officials

One LONG moment by commencement speaker Donna Axum Whitworth, a former Miss Arkansas who also won Miss America back in 1963.  Her talk on humility included so many "I did this" and "I did thats", or as Marcia says, "A litany of her achievements", that many in our group found it to be the worse commencement address we had ever heard.  However, it was probably the only commencement address that Ryan remembers, and he was so caught up in the day that it did not phase him.  However, I really felt that when she said, "In conclusion...." that the entire audience was going to burst out in applause.

 Next they gave out three awards to former students....

 ...and the time came that we all had waited for, the giving out of the degrees.

Below is Ryan's row still sitting, but being the next to be called up. 

 Below is a terrible picture of him walking towards the stage with the rest of his row.

 Below you can see Ryan to the far right.

 And then the BIG MOMENT, Ryan receives his degree, as you can see on the big screen TV, but also on the stage in the bottom left of the photo.

 After singing the Alma Matter, and then the proverbial "HOG CALL" (if you have never heard it, click on link for a YouTube version of the Hog Call) pictures below...

 The procession leads out of Bud Walton Stadium....

 ....and we get one last picture of Ryan on the big screen.

We then head out and across the street for some final photos.  Below is one proud dad with his youngest son...(thank you Michael for taking the shot with my camera)

Two final pictures of the graduate alone, with Razorback Football Stadium in the background of the picture below.

Finally, above Ryan poses with his favorite, most adorable sister Stephanie, while below all three kids, Michael, Stephanie and Ryan with Razorback Stadium in the background.

Now for family members, if anyone would like larger versions of any of these pictures, please just send me an email and I will email them to you.  Just so you know, the original of the above picture is 6.24 megabytes, and the dimensions is 4608 by 3456 megapixels, and would measure out to 25.6 inches wide by 19.2 inches in height.  So if you want to make a 8 by 10 out of it, you should be able to take the original to a place like Walgreens and, for a price, they should be able to give you a nice print.  And since this is only for family, you should know, or should know how to get, my private email address already.  --Dave


Note: I posted two posts very close together....if you are interested in the Crystal Bridges Museum, please see the previous blog post.