GS Students Complete Undergraduate Careers

Admission to an Ivy League University "demand[s] perfection at 17, with no detours, no mistakes, and no time off for good behavior," said Deborah Marshall, GS '79, in her address to graduating students and their families at Monday's Class Day for the School of General Studies.

But for the more than 250 students who were honored at the event, reaching graduation was more often the culmination of a much longer and more complicated journey.

This year's valedictorian emphasized the unique shape of the GS experience. Chih-Hsin Hsu emigrated from Taiwan married and with a career in the fashion industry and a bachelor's degree already behind her.

"GS understands that life can take circuitous routes," she told the assembled graduates. "Valedictorians talk about going out into the real world. As GS students we have already been out in the real world."

Many of the graduates at the ceremony stressed that the pressure of attending GS comes not just from exams and academic excellence but from balancing family, professional life, and financial obligations against the scholastic rigors of a prestigious academic institution.

No one knows this better than senior class vice president Jonathan Arkin. Arkin milled with his colleagues at the reception on Furnald Lawn but was not dressed in the robe and mortarboard. Instead he wore a GS T-shirt.

He said he was unable to graduate because he had not been able to attend full time in the fall due to financial concerns. "Like a true GS student," he said with a rueful smile, "complications have arisen."

Other students were cheered on by their many family members. A little girl in a pink long-sleeved shirt pulled tight against the growing chill waved a sign above her head with a profile of a female graduate in a mortarboard holding a diploma. In gold glitter it read "Congratulations Mommy."

For many students who have suffered academic setbacks due to the financial constraints or the press of family concerns, commencement was tinged with the extra joy of a celebration long in the coming.

"It is emotionally overwhelming," said René Chavez, beaming with his cap tipped back and flowers wrapped in yellow paper clutched against his powder blue robe, "when you think back to what brought you here. While you are here, you put that on the back burner but to focus on it today and recall it is very cathartic."