The Janus-Faced Nature of Graduation

It was a weekend of graduations, a time of endings and new beginnings. A time for reflection and anticipation. Students at our own Eckerd College were among those donning caps and gowns for the final passage of their immediate academic careers. We came across this interesting perspective by Donal O'Shea, president of New College of Florida in Sarasota. Here's an excerpt. Follow the link to the whole article.

"Few events in one’s life are as powerful and as portentous as undergraduate graduation ceremonies. Their power derives from the tension that inheres in their Janus-faced nature: they mark an end and a beginning; a culmination and a commencement; a finish and a rebirth. One face looks to the past, marking the graduate’s successful completion of a rite of passage. The other face looks to the future, celebrating the graduate’s transformation."