The Real World

After a week off work with my mom, returning to work has been challenging. There are the usual rituals after a long absence: checking, deleting and responding to emails, reviewing tasks to accomplish, but this time it was harder. It may be that Hopkins commencement on Thursday usually means a short week this week, followed by another 4 day week for memorial day. This year, however, I volunteered to work commencement. It was hot it Baltimore yesterday. On the lacrosse field there was very little breeze. Everyone was aware and tried to prepare for he heat. Extra water bottles, extra first aid stations, and most importantly shorter commencement addresses. We actually ended 30 minutes early. Michael Bloomberg did a good job in his address, but it was the class president's address that choked me up. I am a sucker for emotional thank yous to family, maybe because I live so far away from mine.

What was I doing at commencement? Well, after helping the marshals get ready, I and my team-mate quickly joined the other Purell squirters on the field. It was our job to squirt the hands of each doctoral and bachelors degree candidate before they shook hands with the president. That is what we did for the 1000+ candidates. On the upside, several students commented on how cool the sanitizer felt and were happy to use it. The irony of all this is that I don't believe in hand sanitizers.

I traded off with others so I had a place to sit, rest and hydrate. Multiple bottles of water and juice later, we were done when I squirted Purell into Ms. Zhao's hands. It was a great day, but I was exhausted afterwards. I went home, took a 3 hour nap and relaxed until the hubby got off work. Overall, a good day. Congratulations, Johns Hopkins University, Class of 2010.