The weather was picture perfect. Rochester is a city that is not really know for its warm and sunny weather, but Sunday was a picture perfect day. It was a beautiful day for a commencement.

Anne and I attended Dave’s commencement ceremony on Sunday. It turns out, commencement at the University of Rochester is an all day affair. This was the university’s 160th commencement. The first one lasted three days.

There were lots of speakers at the ceremony. Two of them come to mind. The first was a women, who had been one of the thirteen Federal Reserve Bankers. She is now engaged in community education. Her gaffe was to congratulate the students on their retirement instead of their graduation. The second memorable speaker actually spoke twice, first at the main ceremony and then again at the engineering ceremony. He was Ed Hajim, for whom the school of engineering is named. His speech had four points that are neatly summarized here:

• Find something to do
• Find someone to share it with
• Find something you believe in
• Find something for yourself

The question was asked of Anne and I are we satisfied with the University of Rochester? Our answer is a whole hearted yes. Dave could have gone to the University of Missouri, at Rolla and also obtained an engineering degree, at considerably less expense, but the quality of his education at Rochester is so self evident in the eyes of his parents that all monetary arguments seem to miss the point.