This week is going to be completely different for a #cigarSunday post in that it didnt happen on the weekend but early on a Monday morning, and there was no use of scotch or whiskey in the making of this post.
This weekend marked the culmination of hard work that 4th+ year students of StFX have achieved by having their various degrees bestowed upon them by the faculty and administration of the University. This is always a very busy weekend with many events, and gatherings, 2 of which are planed by the organization that i work for.
I love this time of year, it is great to see so many happy students and families celebrating both the successes and challenges that each student faced during their time here. It is super fun to meet parents and siblings and to be able to share in that excitement. To pass on a funny story or two about their times here that the parent may not have known and to see such love and support for students.
Sadly it is a time for students to say goodbye. Goodbye to the school that they love, to some of the friends they have met and shared time with, and in some ways goodbye to another phase of themselves.
While I will ALWAYS make fun of the tears at the end of the night/morning as now graduates huddle together at the 330am-5am breakfast, in group hugs as tears gently roll down cheeks into egg mcmuffin style sandwiches, I am excited for them. This is now the time for them to move on from the safety of their schooling and tackle the challenges of the 'real world'. To take all of their promise, enthusiasm and work ethic and put it into the work force, into more in depth education, and most importantly share the knowledge they have worked so hard to achieve. In this day and age of technology friends will not be far away or inaccessible as they once were so the sting of loss or ending currently being felt will give way soon to thinking of the future, of possibility, and of growth.
For me the end of graduation signals the beginning of summer. One team of student leaders are finished up and heading off for the next adventure and one team of student leaders are getting ready to take office and get ready for the year ahead.
So having made it through the emotional roller coaster that is graduation weekend, it was time to celebrate with a drink and a cigar.
We finished up with most of our duties by about 5:30-5:45am Monday morning. So it was time to smoke em if you got em. Friend of the show Pat decided that he would like a cigar as well so knowing that he didnt smoke many cigars i selected 2 Don Thomas Classico Presidente cigars. They are a great medium smoke and have a very good burn and ash. As we did not accompany these cigars with any scotch or whiskey I wanted to make sure that i picked something that was going to be a good cigar on their own.
I really enjoyed mine. Not sure what Pat thought, but he gave it a good try. We had some others join in and they brought their own cigars as well. Nik and eventually Nick both joined in with a darker cigar that i did not recognize and a friend of Pat's from highschool jumped on board as well, so it was a nice little group to share some stories from the night, have a couple of laughs and watch the sun come up over beautiful StFX campus.
As much as I enjoy my #cigarSundays having some fellow cigar smokers, enjoying the sun rising on another day, and thinking back about all the great people graduating and some of the funny things that happened along the way this year was the perfect ending to the weekend.
Until Homecoming,
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan
This weekend marked the culmination of hard work that 4th+ year students of StFX have achieved by having their various degrees bestowed upon them by the faculty and administration of the University. This is always a very busy weekend with many events, and gatherings, 2 of which are planed by the organization that i work for.
I love this time of year, it is great to see so many happy students and families celebrating both the successes and challenges that each student faced during their time here. It is super fun to meet parents and siblings and to be able to share in that excitement. To pass on a funny story or two about their times here that the parent may not have known and to see such love and support for students.
Sadly it is a time for students to say goodbye. Goodbye to the school that they love, to some of the friends they have met and shared time with, and in some ways goodbye to another phase of themselves.
While I will ALWAYS make fun of the tears at the end of the night/morning as now graduates huddle together at the 330am-5am breakfast, in group hugs as tears gently roll down cheeks into egg mcmuffin style sandwiches, I am excited for them. This is now the time for them to move on from the safety of their schooling and tackle the challenges of the 'real world'. To take all of their promise, enthusiasm and work ethic and put it into the work force, into more in depth education, and most importantly share the knowledge they have worked so hard to achieve. In this day and age of technology friends will not be far away or inaccessible as they once were so the sting of loss or ending currently being felt will give way soon to thinking of the future, of possibility, and of growth.
For me the end of graduation signals the beginning of summer. One team of student leaders are finished up and heading off for the next adventure and one team of student leaders are getting ready to take office and get ready for the year ahead.
So having made it through the emotional roller coaster that is graduation weekend, it was time to celebrate with a drink and a cigar.
We finished up with most of our duties by about 5:30-5:45am Monday morning. So it was time to smoke em if you got em. Friend of the show Pat decided that he would like a cigar as well so knowing that he didnt smoke many cigars i selected 2 Don Thomas Classico Presidente cigars. They are a great medium smoke and have a very good burn and ash. As we did not accompany these cigars with any scotch or whiskey I wanted to make sure that i picked something that was going to be a good cigar on their own.
I really enjoyed mine. Not sure what Pat thought, but he gave it a good try. We had some others join in and they brought their own cigars as well. Nik and eventually Nick both joined in with a darker cigar that i did not recognize and a friend of Pat's from highschool jumped on board as well, so it was a nice little group to share some stories from the night, have a couple of laughs and watch the sun come up over beautiful StFX campus.
As much as I enjoy my #cigarSundays having some fellow cigar smokers, enjoying the sun rising on another day, and thinking back about all the great people graduating and some of the funny things that happened along the way this year was the perfect ending to the weekend.
Until Homecoming,
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan