Month: May 2011

Rules for Attending Graduations

Posted on by LaMarGoti

“Graduates, I ask that you move your tassels from the right side of your cap to the left. You’re officially graduates of NCC.” I probably shouldn’t put quotes around that. I’m not actually sure what the President of NCC said last night when my friend graduated. Why? Not because I was preoccupied, nor was my attention lacking. I couldn’t hear a lot of what he said, I could, however, hear everything the people in front of and next to me were chatting about though. As I attended another college graduation last night, I was reminded that it seems some people lack social etiquette. As I attend my alma mater’s commencement tomorrow, I’m hoping for a better experience than last night. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled I was able to be there for my friend, after all, she feels like family, I just wish i could have experienced the entire ceremony.) That said, I present a few basic (what I thought were common sense) rules of how to act at a graduation…

If you talk, keep it quiet and short.
Of course when you sit through a multi-hour ceremony of any sort, you are probably going to have a comment or two about what’s happening that you want to share with those you are sitting with. And by that, I mean the people you came with, not every family within spitting distance. Graduations are not a time for you to start talking about the project you’re working on at the office, or about some ailment you have that should be kept in the family. Full blown conversations, especially if you don’t know how to whisper, are only distracting to those around you and make you come off as rude.

Proper use of cell phones.
One, keep them on silent. I’m well aware that no one wants to hear Irish rock blast from my phone during the ceremony — and I don’t want to hear Lady Gaga or Jay-Z blasting from yours. All phones have the ability to be turned to vibrate or silent, learn to use that function.
Two, whatever you do, don’t pick up your phone mid-graduation to carry on a conversation (see above). And to the man sitting in front of me to the right, use of a blue tooth does not make it better.
Three, use of your phone to text, check your e-mails, tweet or take pictures is all OK! I texted during my own graduation, my sister’s and well, any other graduation I’ve been to. I’m not glued to the keyboard, just using it sporadically, and typically using it to communicate with the graduate. Tweeting, playing games, doing whatever you want with your apps is OK too. Graduations are long, especially when 500+ names are being called. Keep yourself occupied, but remember you should only be entertaining yourself, not everyone around you too.

I love balloons, but not in my face.
Balloons are great for parties and pictures, but they are not meant for blocking my view. If you want to give your graduate balloons, leave them in the car until after the ceremony. As much as you try to keep them low, they will blow around, get loose and end up in front of someone else’s face.

Some cheering is OK
Cheering, applauding and the like is great to show support to your loved one. But remember to keep it low key so you don’t distract anyone else from missing hearing their graduate’s name called.

Kicking Cancer to the Curb: What We Can Do

Posted on by LaMarGoti

So a little late, but this is my latest post from TNGG, originally published here.

Son, daughter, mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, friend, or neighbor, we all know someone (or many someones) who has been diagnosed with cancer.

A cure to cancer will come one day because society as a whole wants it and supports it — and young people have taken action and will continue to do so. We are going out and trying to kick cancer’s butt. Millennials all over the world are going out running marathons, walking miles, writing letters on end and raising money for all forms of cancer.

Emily Jasper, a Forbes.com blogger, wants to “make a meaningful difference in the fight against cancer” and she’s not the only one putting up a fight and trying to help fund finding a cure.

Relay for Life is a team event that raises money for the American Cancer Society (ACS) and involves at least one member of a team walking the entire night, or longer, as some relays may be. These events are held all over America and beyond (even in Australia). Lately, due to the amount of interest, they are popping up at college campuses everywhere thanks to grassroots organizations like Colleges Against Cancer.

Another way Millennials are supporting ACS is through Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. In Boston, the MSABC walk is full of young participants and volunteers. Co-eds of both genders, though mostly females, wake up early in masses to participate in this event every fall. Last fall, Katelyn D’Eramo, 25, was just one of the many participants, walking for her Nana Barbara. According to D’Eramo, “the best part of doing the Making Stride for Breast Cancer this year was this feeling that all 40,000 walkers, all walking 5.7 miles, wearing pink, smiling, were working together for a cure.”

Perhaps part of the reason so many are supporting a cure for breast cancer specifically is because every three minutes, one more woman in the U.S. is diagnosed with breast cancer. It was this statistic that caused me to walk 39.3 miles in two days for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer a year and a half ago. I agreed to raise $1,800, which I thought would be hard in a tough economy, but it wasn’t. Support poured out from around the world, mostly from my friends, all Millennials.

Carrie Bishop, 25, has walked the Boston AWBC multiple times for her aunt, a two time breast cancer survivor. She says she is “lucky to be able to participate and help those who are less fortunate and raise money to find a cure.” She “was raised with the value of giving back, and will always keep that and pass along to [her] children” — this value, and Carrie’s personal reason for doing it, is one that is all too familiar to many.

We’re not only out there searching for a cure through purely physical means. Those who can still be found on a college campus generally like to stay up late. Though Up ‘til Dawn, you stay up all night writing letters to friends and family to support the patients at St. Jude’s Research Hospital.

College students sacrifice sleep for many things, but even those who need a solid 8-hours a night are willing to give up one night a year to help support this great event that so many campuses host. It’s easy — all you need to do is the addresses of all your extended family and you’re sure to have enough addresses for the bigletter writing party.

Whether our feet or hands are doing the walking, we’re all heading in the right direction. Cancer has already significantly affected our generation. We’re so determined to prove to the world that we can be better than they expect and that we have a social conscious, it’s only a matter of time before one of our own is the one to fine the cure.

Walking miles on end or writing letters all night not your calling? How do you help support the cause?

Where Were You When Osama Bin Laden Died?

Posted on by LaMarGoti

There are certain days that everyone will always remember where they are. Millennials will always remember and be asked where they were on 9-11. I was a sophomore in high school. The second tower was hit and the first one fell during my second period free. I watched all of this happen live on the TVs at the senior end of the cafeteria along with my biology class. The bell rang to end the period, we bolted up two flights of stairs, turned on the news on our bio classroom and saw the second tower fall. My bio teacher walked in, turned off the TV and yelled at us for turning it on without permission. You see, I live on CT, in an NYC suburb — many parents from my town work in the city, my father included at the time. As many recall, getting a cell phone call to go through to the city was hard that day. My dad didn’t work in the towers at the time, but he had dropped me off at school that morning telling me he’d be heading to Windows on the World for a meeting with old co-workers. (Windows on the World was above where the plane hit, no one who was there survived.) Frantic, I tried getting through to anyone. Finally, using the inter-school extensions, I got through to the elementary school my mom worked at. I asked the secretary if I could talk to my mom, only to be told she was on the other line and to please hold. Before being put on hold, I asked if she had heard news of my dad. She did — my dad was on the other line with my mom, he had caught the last train out of Grand Central to get home. My dad watched the towers get hit and fall from his boss’s window. He felt his heart sink as he knew he had friends who were hurt or dead. He packed up his bags and left, he wanted out — turned out that he ended up leaving working in the city shortly thereafter. That afternoon, my mom left school early. My sister was in middle school and my mom knew that all kids in any school but the high school needed a parent, or adult neighbor, to sign them off the bus (normally only kindergardeners need someone to get them). Not knowing if my dad would make it home in time, she came home to collect my sister and all our neighbors. While the school wanted to make sure no kids were stuck at home with no parent coming home that night, my mom didn’t want anyone we knew to sit through that. All my neighbors hung out at our house until their parents got home — fortunately, they all did. I will never forget this day.

When asked where I was when Osama died, my answer is much simpler — I was sound asleep. I went to bed at 9:30 last night, I was exhausted from a day in the sun. I woke up at my boyfriend’s house at 3:41AM. Not knowing what caused me to wake up, I checked my phone. I had 42 text messages — one from my sister and 41 from Twitter (since I don’t have Internet at work, I follow about 8 or 9 people, including local news, who I get their tweets texted to me so I don’t miss something big during the day.) I read my sister’s message first; “Osama dead go amurrca – I hope you caught the address”. In a half sleep, Osama Bin Laden did not cross my mind — I thought she meant Barack Obama and that she, a huge Obama supporter, was being sarcastic. Then I knew that’s why I had so many tweets to read, although I then found out she really did mean Osama. I slept through a huge event in life, but fortunately it didn’t take long for me to hear it all thanks to social media. Now all that’s left is for me to turn on my computer tonight to watch Obama’s address online — because I can, because today we can find everything we need at our fingertips.