KatysBlog

My daughter Jessica’s graduation from Harker
High School went well on Saturday. We used all 8 family tickets for seats at
the small but pretty Mountain Winery
outdoor amphitheater above the Silicon Valley. My brother

Pete and his son Daniel drove up from Southern California for the big ceremony.

Tom Campbell (Dean,
Haas School of Business, U.C. Berkeley) gave a moving talk as the graduation speaker.
Jessica wore the add-a-pearl necklace her great-great-grandmother started for her
grandmother (which my mother and I finished for her). After hugs and family pictures, we
wound downhill for lunch at Michi
Japanese Restaurant where Mr. Shin makes great sushi. John and I hosted a BarBQ at home
later that afternoon for everyone who attended or wanted to attend the graduation. Family,
friends, neighbors, former teachers, members of our church congregation, even Mr. Shin came
by with a big plate of special appetizers to celebrate.

However, mere graduation was eclipsed by
Fanime, the Bay Area Anime Convention. Jessica and her friends dressed up in costumes and
went to Fanime for two days of the long weekend. She wanted to go the other days but she was graduated on Saturday and on Sunday the whole family went to see my mother’s art exhibit at the
Peninsula Museum of Art at the
Twin Pines Art Center in Belmont. The retrospective show is called “The Fires Within –
Passionate Drawings by Eleanor Dickinson”. After seeing the exhibit, we all went
to the movie Shrek the Third (since Daniel
is too young to see the other movie choice,
Pirates of the Caribbean:
At World’s End).

For Fanime on Friday, Jessica wore her grandmother’s vintage 1960’s blue and magenta
striped vinyl hiphugger miniskirt and matching vest. On the Monday holiday, she went to
Fanime in a long green gown with a black and green Chinese satin cape (another hand-me-down
from my mother). She looked elegant and had a wonderful time. We saw the Pirates
movie after Pete and Daniel drove home.

We just got home from our third
Harker High School graduation event this week: the “Baccalaureate:
A Farewell to the Class of 2007”. We have also been to the 2007 Athletics
Awards Ceremony, and the Upper School’s Awards Ceremony. This Saturday is the
big one: the graduation ceremony itself.

Tonight’s Baccalaureate was surprisingly enjoyable. We were offered the regulation
Harker brownies and fruit plates and hard white plastic chairs, of course.
However, the music (two pieces by the Harker String Ensemble, plus two
songs by Cantilena, the women’s choir) was excellent and the speeches funny
and moving. My daughter Jessica, much to her surprise, got a few minutes’ notice
to prepare an introduction for the second Faculty Speaker. After she
and her friends hurriedly collaborated on the text, she carried it off well. Mr. Barth
likes to tell bad jokes so she repeated three of them in his introduction:

• What is a pirate’s favorite math variable? Answer: R
• How do you catch a unique rabbit? Answer: You Neek Up On It
• How do you catch a tame rabbit? Answer: Tame Way

Jessica also carried off a goodly set of school awards:

• Coaches’ Award (for 4 years’ work on a new sport: women’s wrestling, from the
  Head Coaches)
• Excellence in Choral Music (from the Performing Arts Department)
• Cum Laude Society (for high grades)
• Recognition of Service: Judicial Committee (Student Body Awards)

It is a delight to see my daughter’s hard work and passion recognized but
it will also be pleasant to be done with High School events and start getting
ready for Jessica to go to Carnegie Mellon in August.