Denison Graduation 2021 was a whirlwind of a week. We arrived home last night, and I woke this morning so tired that I could barely think straight.

The adventure started last Wednesday with Gidget in tow. She’s very attached to us, and we were hesitant to put her in a kennel. She’s not a good traveler, so the vet gave us some anti-anxiety medication for the trip. It’s the only way we could have pictures like the one above. Medicated, she’s a joy to travel with. Unmedicated – not so much.

One day with my parents, and then we were off to Denison. Friday night, the college hosted a Senior Soire with live music and food trucks. Hannah and two of her apartment mates, Amanda (Mo) and Jordan, have their dorm in the back left.

The event was outdoors, and it’s the first time in more than a year we visited with a group of people without masking (we’ve all gotten the COVID-19 vaccine – fingers crossed). It was wonderful to see people’s smiles and hear people speak clearly again.

Graduation day was sunny and warm – which was great because I’d forgotten to bring the emergency rain ponchos I purchase just in case. Here we’re waiting in a tiny bit of shade for the festivities to start.

Hannah decorated her mortarboard in true Maine fashion with an ocean collage, adorned with & she just kept swimming. Now understand – Hannah’s learned SO much while in college – a bit of Arabic, cinema, production, screenwriting, and so much more. But clearly, her spelling hasn’t improved much. 😉

Almost 500 students made up the class of 2021. Quite a few were absent due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions.

Once she crossed the stage, her nerves settled, and she enjoyed the day—video of the event here.

Her mortarboard made the video and part of Denison’s history.

After two-and-a-half hours we were roasted and toasted from the sun, but oh so happy!

Finally, she could step on the university seal without incurring the wrath of unknown gods who would prevent her from graduating – or so the story goes. She jumped and did a little dance too.

We borrowed my dad’s SUV for the trip since it’s the first Denison run where all three of us were in the car. After cleaning out her room, we left behind a rug, fridge, folding chair, and floor lamp among a myriad of other tidbits, and this is how the vehicle looked as we departed Ohio.

We spent a day between Ohio and Maine at my folk’s house in Pennsylvania for a graduation celebration with immediate family who live nearby. Pictured from left-to-right Dad, Mom, Aaron, Rylinn, Elijah, Paul, Hannah, and me.

Our graduation celebration had a theme. My website banner featured the event.

As did the party poster.

And the cake.

Packing to return home was a bit of a challenge. We transitioned from Dad’s car to mine and left three bags of things to be picked up later in the summer. My dining room is now loaded with the debris of half-unpacked bags.

It’s crazy how fast the years have gone. After dropping her off freshman year, I cried the entire way home. Sophomore year was rough, but each year after that got easier. I’m so grateful that in the wake of a global pandemic, Hannah was able to complete her entire senior year on campus and have in-person graduation.

I look back on her four years at Denison as such a gift. For a kid from rural Maine, she had so many wonderful experiences. She studied Arabic for two semesters and learned that languages are not one of her strengths. She was the lead cinematographer on her professor’s project filming the oral histories of Arab immigrants in Central Ohio. She traveled to the University of Oregon and the University of Victoria in Canada to present on this project. She received a fellowship to use the filmed interviews of Arab immigrants and turn them into a short documentary of their American experience. She got her passport and traveled internationally for school – twice! She spent half of a semester studying in Denmark until that trip was cut short by COVID-19. She earned a certificate in marketing/social media.

She had her short film appear at the University’s annual film festival.

Hannah has always been fascinated with movies and ultimately majored in cinema.  She had wonderful experiences in all stages of writing and creating films – cinematography, sound design, lighting, editing, and filming with a variety of different cameras (including old-school film). It looked like editing would be her focus for a while, but she’s found a love for screenwriting, and her faculty have encouraged her to pursue this career. This last semester’s independent study helped launch her first feature film script (set in Maine) that she’ll work on completing over the summer.

Today she began a summer fellowship with the Innovate for Maine Fellows Program. The description from their website, “Emphasizing innovation and entrepreneurship, Innovate for Maine prepares student fellows to collaborate with companies on innovation projects that accelerate company growth and give students a paid, meaningful, hands-on internship experience.” As part of this, she’ll be working closely with one business where it looks like she’ll be able to use her writing, cinema, and marketing know-how. Her job search will continue during this time – she’d love to find a gig as a script reader/analyst. If you have any “ins” in the film industry, feel free to share!

So this summer, we’ll be juggling sharing an office. I’m so excited for her future but thrilled that I get to have her home for a bit longer.

Congratulations, Hannah!