Graduation and university pride

I've meaning to write about this all week. Last Friday was Graduation Day at Northwestern. For the week leading upto it, the University was preparing in earnest and this culminated in the Commencement Ceremony held at Ryan Field, the University's American Football stadium. The US graduates wear similar gowns and mortar boards (the funny hats) as we do in the UK. The colours on the hoods of the gowns, and the tassels on the mortar boards distinguish the school that students belonged to, the type of degree that they are graduating with, and even any honour societies that they belonged to. In the case of Northwestern, the majority of the gowns I saw were purple, which are the University's colours, but there were many different hood colours.

I would love to have gone to the Commencement, but just like my own graduation day nearly 10 years ago, it was only open to those directly involved. It was a beautiful day, so I took the opportunity to wander round the campus area and just enjoy the atmosphere. It was quite poignant watching the graduands walking round campus, spending the afternoon with their families, friends and loved ones. It was a day filled with hope and pride, and the glimmer of new beginnings.

The sense of pride is something I feel quite strongly here at Northwestern. From the huge numbers of people on campus wearing clothing, or sporting bags and other paraphernalia with the Northwestern logo and name, to the stickers and labels that adorn many of the Evanston shop windows that read "Go Wildcats" or something similar. The sports facilities here are phenomenal and you can see the pride that they take in their sports teams (the Wildcats). In the university swimming pool, there are leader boards and huge flags dangling from the ceiling with the names of many of the surrounding universities that compete there. We had a similar sense of pride at the University of Surrey, where I did my BSc. I still have all my clothing with the university emblem emblazoned on them, and I still feel proud that I went there and got to be a part of that university experience. I think there is something to be said for the campus university environment, it definitely fosters a sense of belonging that is otherwise lost.

Quick update - 1st day at Kellogg

Just a quick update to let you know I haven't been sleeping all this time! Had a lovely (if not unusually quiet - for me) weekend and loads more pics (and some experiences to share) will follow soon.

The photo above shows you where you will find me every Monday for the next 7 weeks. First day thoughts, the lecturers are awesome! Today we learnt about Economics & Strategy which was delivered by Jen Brown and Leadership in Action by Keith Murnighan. Might sound boring? Maybe in the hands of less skilled speakers. Both sessions were thoroughly engaging, interesting and really insightful. Even more so, all of the students in the class (there's 51 of us!) were interacting and asking questions throughout the day. A massive difference to the very quiet lectures that we have in Finland. Because of the constant interaction and thought provoking questions I think I learnt a lot more than I would have otherwise. I feel really inspired and privileged to be here. It's not often one gets to experience the quality of teaching from one of the top business schools in the world. Activities for the rest of the week will involve spending a few days at the Innovations and New Ventures Office (INVO) and my host lab.