ConGRADulations UHD Gators!

As many of you long time readers are aware of, ever since I came back home in May 2010, I've been blessed to interact and work with some amazing student leaders at UH, Rice, TSU, HCC-Southeast and UH-Downtown on various projects.

Many of them were freshmen and sophomores at their respective institutions at the time I encountered them or we started talking and staying in contact after I did panel discussions on those respective campuses.

But as y'all are all keenly aware of and was reinforced today, time marches on.  Those collegiate freshmen and sophomores I met have become seniors about to say goodbye to their college years and hello to their post-graduation lives.

So once again I was taking some time out on a Saturday to check out another collegiate graduation.  Today I was at Minute Maid Park to watch four Gator student leaders, Sarah Syed, LaTrina Carter, Tarah Taylor and Kristopher Sharp step across the stage and graduate from UHD with their various degrees.

It started at 9:15 AM with the graduates marching from their staging area down along the left field side stands around home plate to their blocked off area along the right field stands where the stage was set up,  After hanging out near the student seating and waving at Trina and Sarah, I decided to get some seats behind home plate so I could see the massive Jumbotron board which was in operation and get a better view of the ceremony.

It was also amusing to me that while I was there to support these student leaders on their special day, several people and UHD students who walked past my seat in Section 118 recognized and thanked me for coming to UHD to do those various panels.

I also had a fascinating conversation with another woman who was watching the UHD one, and then hit the road at 11 AM to go to the UT-Austin one to see another relative graduate today.

But today was all about the UHD Class of 2015, and I was honored to get an invitation to witness your special day.

ConGRADulations Sarah, Tarah, Kristopher and Trina! You are all amazing young leaders who accomplished much in your time at 1 Main Street.   I salute you for achieving a personal life goal, and I have no doubts that you will continue to do great things for our community, our state and our country.