Graduation

The Ornstein family is all together for Danny's graduation, another great milestone. It has been a nice set of events for grads and family, making all us parents feel good about the investment-- which was, truth be told, well-spent; this is quite a place for an undergraduate education. At the Class Day celebration today, the seniors put on a skit suggesting they were all going into I-banking. Not quite true, at least for Danny and many of his friends. He, and others, are going to take a breather and figure out what to do with their lives (it won't be I-banking, I am quite sure.)

Like his brother Matthew, who moved to Hollywood after graduating three years ago, Danny feels as if he has been on an intense treadmill since -- well, since pre-school. Every moment, in his view, was programmed -- afterschool activities, soccer and baseball, religious school, summers, high school extracurriculars, and so on. Now the programming has come to a complete halt, and he both needs a breather, and a game plan to figure out what to do when the next day, week and month are all filled with electives.

It really does stand in contrast to my experience, where next to nothing was programmed. My parents did not watch over me much. Summers as a kid were spent hanging out. I didn't go to preschool, or do a lot of extra stuff in high school. For my parents, the fact that I was going to college was pleasure enough; I figured out my options, and the same with graduate school.

So I understand that feeling of pressure, and the desire to step back and breathe deeply. And, after Matthew pointed out the newsweekly cover story to me, I now understand the concept of "twixters," kids in their twenties who want neither to be kids nor full-fledged grownups. I think I can understand it for a while. Check back with me in a year or two.