Hurray! I Graduated!

I did it! I graduated from law school!It was wonderful to share graduation with family. Both my parents and Andrea's parents came to New York to help us celebrate.
We had a lot of fun with them, and we ate at some of our favorite places, including Gramercy Tavern, Katz's Deli, and one last stop at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn.
The university commencement was held at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, May 13.
Normally, NYU has commencement in Washington Square Park, which has become the school's icon. However, the park is currently under construction. So university president (and former law school dean) John Sexton, a huge Yankees fan, arranged to hold our graduation at the stadium.

Sexton, on the right, invited Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to receive an honorary doctorate from NYU and to be the keynote speaker at commencement. Although I am not a huge fan of hers politically, I think she gave a wonderful speech about how we as graduating students must be citizen diplomats. It was inspiring.The undergraduates at the university-wide commencement weren't quite sure what to make of my fancy robe. As a doctoral candidate, I got to wear a long hood, an eight-cornered hat with a short tassel, and a robe with three doctoral stripes on the sleeves. Lots cooler than their plain purple robes.Each person in attendance at commencement received a special hat. I sat only a few rows behind home plate, so the cap was nice under the hot sun. Even though my family sat in the shade up in the "cheap seats," some of them decided to wear the cap anyway.
And some of them decided not to wear their hats.The law school convocation was held on Friday, May 15, at the Madison Square Garden theater. The hooding ceremony took a long time, as over 1000 students graduated with a J.D., an LL.M., or a J.S.D. degree. Here I am shaking the hand of Dean Ricky Revesz.
In my mind, this was a celebration not just for me, but for Andrea too. She has sacrificed a lot over the last three years. She was willing to move across the country, she put her own educational dreams on hold to put me through law school, and she had a baby in New York City! Although I was the one who got to wear the fancy robe and got to walk across the stage, Andrea should get a lot of credit too for accomplishing a great deal. I'm proud of her, I'm grateful for her, and I love her.