Unless you are attending a graduation ceremony with your dear parents or your truest college comrades, I think it is pointless to be there on your own. You line up in your gown to receive a testamur on stage, have your picture taken beside the chancellor, then sit for hours watching the others perform the same thing and listening to speeches about academic perseverance or random scientific discovery. Is that what is called a celebration? It is way less meaningful than a cherished box of pizza at home. It became an even emptier signifier as some universities prefer the testamurs to be sent directly/digitally to students’ addresses prior to the graduation. In that case, you essentially attend the ceremony for nothing but a performative academic institution embellishment.
I believe that originally it was the teacher who best understood his student’s quality, so there was no such testamur but a teacher’s approval. It symbolises a deep nurtured relationship involved in mastering a skill or knowledge. However, the notion of credentialism was so pervasive that a certain standard was established among teachers to certify that a student had learnt. I’m not here to argue against credentialism, but to ask: why does an academic institution bother to ‘celebrate’ students’ learning milestone with such a lavish formal ceremony? It shifts the humbling personal experience of having learnt something into a parade where students are made to believe that they have earned knowledge from the institution. I think everyone would agree that the excitement of receiving that insignia on a sealed paper is nothing but temporary, but it is what it is. I suppose, nothing could ever substitute that everlasting joy coming from a nod from your guru, because it embodies a reciprocal interaction within the act of teaching and learning. And I would forever remember those conversations about “what have you learnt so far?” or “what are you eager to learn next?“.
selikurdirham 