This past weekend I graduated with my Bachelor's of Science in Kinesiology, Physical Activity and Wellness. It took four and half years of taking classes to achieve this, and then quite a bit of administrative work on the back end, so I am extremely grateful to be done. Sacramento State no longer holds a fall commencement ceremony following the COVID shutdowns, so I had to wait a few extra months for this moment to walk across the stage. It was a big weekend, so I wanted to give a rundown of how things went. :)
I was nervous in the week leading up to my commencement ceremony because the Sunday night before the big weekend I started to feel sick, and I actually stayed home from work Monday through Wednesday before coming back on Thursday. I was worried I was still going to be too sick to attend the ceremony, but with enough rest and medicine, we were able to make it happen.
Friday I didn’t go to work either. Instead, I slept in a little bit nad got myself packed up for the weekend. Then my mom and I headed into town to do a couple of things to preapre. I got my eyebrows threaded and she got a mani/pedi. Then we hit the road around two o’clock. My mom and I drove over 5 hours (with traffic) up to Sacramento to get settled and be ready for the next day.
Saturday was the big day! We got up and started getting ready for the event. I had to shower and wash my hair, brush my teeth and wash my face, do my makeup, put my dress and shoes on, and get my cap and gown ready.
My dress actually has its own story. I spent weeks scouring the internet for the right dress for the occasion. I shopped and shopped and shopped until I finally found the right dress, but it was too long and I needed to shorten it a quite a bit for it to fit my vision. My mom and I waited too long to get that job done, and I was sick and she was stressed out by the time we got around to it, so we let that plan go. Thursday after work I went to three more stores to look for a last-minute dress to wear and I really like the one I found (go watch my video about it on TikTok @ohnicolerenee). I think things worked out exactly how they were supposed to on that one because I think I like the backup dress better than the original.
So anyway, since my dress was pink, I did pink eyeshadow and I used the palette my sister got me for Christmas that I still hadn’t used yet and I was pretty proud of how it came out. I pulled my hair back into a half-up-half-down look, put my shoes on (with blister protection underneath), pinned my bra straps under my dress sleeves, and it was time to go!
We snapped a couple of pictures outside the hotel room before heading to the venue and I want to frame this one because it’s my favorite.
When we got to the Golden 1 Center, we stopped at a coffee shop and I got a matcha and a brownie to hold me over during the ceremony, which was a spectacular idea because I think I would have been very hangry if we had not done that.
Since I finished my classes in December and moved home when I was done, I hadn't seen many of my friends during their last semester of college, so it was really great to see them again and celebrate our big accomplishment together.
There was a lot of waiting while I was there in the arena. Graduates checked in and hour and a half before the ceremony began, then we had to get down to the arena floor, find some seats and get comfortable. Lots of pictures were taken with the physical education cohort, which I am not a part of, but I got to be in a photo with them anyway. I got to talking with the girl who was sitting next to me and we didn't know each other at first, but we realized we both used to work at the campus gym and we had seen each other around, so we're friends and now and we followed each other on Instagram. I got to see one of my best friends and hug her and congratulate her, as well as some other friends I took classes with.
The ceremony itself was very nice. The new university president gave a speech and tied in the Kendrick Lamar/Drake beef, which was pretty clever and funny until he said it too many times and all the students groaned. The only thing that really seemed to stress everyone out was the lack of instruction about how to be a graduate. We were googling if we had to zip up our gowns and which side the tassle should sit on. We didn't know the order of how we would be called or what to do when it was time. Luckily everything came together in time and when I crossed the stage everything went smoothly. In the video recording of the ceremony, you can see that I'm very excited to shake the hand of the first person on the stage. This is because I realized that it was my department advisor, who is the reason I even got to be on that stage at all. I had some difficult things to deal with at the end of my last semester and she was so helpful in getting me through all of that so I could graduate.
Speaking of shaking hands, I thought about not shaking the president's hand at all, since I had worked hard to oppose a major campus project of his during my last semester, but he handled the pro-Palestine encampment very well and I didn't really want to cause any problems. It had already been a bumpy enough road to get to that point, so I figured I would let it be a nice moment. I'm glad that's what I chose, although I did hear that a couple of people opted not to shake his hand either.
I really liked the part at the end when we got to turn our tassles and cheer. I was so proud of myself and all of my friends who were in that ceremony, and the other ceremonies held that weekend. We accomplished something that many people will not, and that's a big deal. It took a lot of time and energy and tears and hard work to get to the finish line, and none of us gave up, no matter what came our way. That is just so awesome.
After the ceremony I met my family outside and we all drove over to Old Sacramento to eat at Joe's Crab Shack. We had a spectacular meal together, overlooking the Sacramento River. My aunts and uncles gave me gifts, and we all took a photo together at the table that we got printed with special frames. Some people were worried that it might be a little too informal to eat at Joe's Crab Shack, but it truly turned out to be the perfect place for us to be.
There were a lot of ups and downs this weekend, one of the biggest of which I won't even discuss here, but overall it was such a great weekend and I am so glad that I chose to participate. I'm very grateful to everyone who was able to come and support me, and to those who cheered me on from home. In fact, the ladies at work threw a party for me yesterday with gifts and decorations and a special homemade lunch. It was so wonderful. It's so sweet to have people around who love and care about me.
At the end of the day, I am most relieved to be able to put college behind me and pave a new way for myself. College was great for me in a lot of ways. I grew a lot, met lots of new people, learned quite a bit, and had a lot of fun. But it was also a very painful, difficult, and confusing time for me and I am excited to be free from all of that. And now I'm Nicole Oneto, B.S. Kinesiology. Nice to meet you. :)
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