Grad Fair volunteer Denise Nielsen gives Salvador Lopez his tickets for graduation day in the CSUB Book Store, May 15.
By Andrew Rivera
Staff Writer
Last Wednesday and Thursday was the start of the California State University, Bakersfield Grad Fair that was from 10 a.m to 6 p.m. The Grad Fair is where all the graduating students can purchase their cap and gown. This is a major event for all the students because it will mark the countdown toward their graduation from CSUB.
“I’m starting to feel the pressure of graduation, with it being in a couple weeks away. I’m just hoping that I can continue to pass all my classes,” said James Yoshimoto, a graduating senior.
With graduation coming soon it brings both joy and nervousness. Joy from knowing that you will be done with school and will not have to worry about mid terms and finals, and nervousness from actually having to enter the real world of a professional career and from the added pressure to make sure that you still pass all your classes.
Julia Hughes, a CSUB Bookstore employee, shows off the blue undergraduate cap and gown while working at the register during the CSUB Grad Fair.
Getting the cap and gown doesn’t necessarily mean that you will walk away with your diploma. If you end up failing your class you can still walk at graduation, you will just have to come back in either summer or fall and finish off your classes.
“My biggest worry will be passing my classes and trying to invite all my friends and family to my graduation,” said Karl Ancheta, a graduating senior from Hawaii.
Some people who are graduating with bachelor’s degrees will take up master’s programs or enter med school, while others will just start looking for careers. Others plan to take a little break and worry about their future after a couple months off.
Master’s student John Wilson tries on rings to purchase at CSUB’s Grad Fair.
But, before that, people will start to prepare for their graduation parties and decide who to invite to the graduation ceremony, since students can only invite six people. These parties are mostly for family members because it will mark the beginning of the students new life of now moving into adulthood because they might be the ones taking care of their parents instead of the parents taking care of them.
The most important moment of graduation is when the students actually receive their diplomas. This is the symbol of all the hard work they put throughout their college lives. All the long hours of studying for a final, the sleepless night of cramming material because you didn’t read the chapters for the exams or quizzes, and the struggle of actually showing up for class. All of that will be shown in the diploma you receive. I know that what every graduating student is looking forward to. I know it is what I am looking forwards to as a graduating student.
