Graduation #6

This past Wednesday was M1’s convocation in London, Ontario.  She graduated from the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario.  She needed to be there at 8:00 AM, so rather than wake up at 5:00, we drove in the night before and stayed in a hotel.  M2 and I made the mini sojourn but M3 did not as she had school and final exams are just around the corner.

There were two separate ceremonies – one for Ivey students in the morning and the traditional one with additional students from other faculties in the afternoon.  The morning ceremony took place in an auditorium filled with the graduates.  The auditorium was not big enough for an audience so families and friends watched a livestream in various classrooms across the campus.  During the ceremony, graduates who made the Dean’s list were announced and M1 made it!  For Ivey, this means she was in the top 25% of the graduating class.

An interesting side note is that the student who had the highest mark was the daughter of my former manager.  We stopped working together way back in 2000, before our children were even born.  When the daughter’s name was announced, I wondered if she was related to my former manager because it’s not a common surname.  I hadn’t seen her in over ten years and we had a nice little reunion.  Coincidentally, we watched the livestream in the same classroom.

The afternoon ceremony took place at Canada Life Place, the local arena where the London Knights play.  This was the normal ceremony where each graduate walks across the stage to receive their diploma and families do get to watch live in the audience, and cheer.

The Ivey Business School is very prestigious and many times during this day it was mentioned that Ivey is the number one business school in Canada.  M1 graduated with an Honours Business and Administration degree and it was a tough road.  Through my conversations with M1, I can understand why Ivey is considered the top business school.  First, they teach a wide range of subjects from accounting to capital markets to entrepreneurship to marketing, and the list goes on.  Second, they focus not just on technical skills, but also practical skills, such as communication and collaboration.  After all, how many projects are there in the business world where you are actually working alone?  Also, after working for many years, I can say that I’ve seen more people succeed by just talking and not knowing anything of substance than the other way around.  Those who have the technical skills but can’t communicate often get hidden in the shadows somewhere while others get the glory.  It’s great that Ivey develops both sets of skills.  Third, there are a lot of extra-curricular activities where they guide and push the students to make contacts and network with people from big companies and small businesses.

Many times M1 called me to complain about how stressed she was with homework, mid-terms, group presentations, coffee chats, job fairs, and the list goes on.  So I know M1 is very proud of this degree that she worked so hard to obtain.  M1, Mommy and Daddy are very proud of you too!

Big Oh

Who's Your Soulmate?

Who is your soulmate?  What is a soulmate?  I have answers to these questions for myself but I’m not going to reveal the “who” yet.  If you’ve read blogs on this site before, you probably know who it is.

M1 just returned home from 4 years at the University of Western Ontario where she spent the last 3 years living with 4 other girls in a house.  At that age, there are lots of relationship issues and gossip happening.  M1 herself has been with a boyfriend for almost two years now.  She tells me about her relationship and about her friends’ relationships.  Sometimes more than I need to know, but I guess I should be happy about that since other parents complain that their kids never talk to them.

The topic has come up about how people should behave in relationships.  What secrets do you keep from your significant other, if any?  What types of things do you tell your significant other vs. your friends?  Can a good friend become a significant other?  When answering these questions to M1 (and M2 and M3), I brought up the concept of a soulmate.

I checked Google and AI, etc. and they have definitions of a soulmate.  I’m going to reject those definitions and provide one of my own, as I alluded to in the first paragraph.  To me, a soulmate is the first person you think of when something significant happens.  It’s also the person you want to text when something insignificant/frivolous happens.  If I were younger, I would say BAE instead of soulmate.  BAE = Before Anyone Else, meaning this person is my first priority, the first person I tell things to, before anyone else.  The special thing about a soulmate (or BAE) is that the identity of that person will always be in your heart.  I’ve mentioned before that I’m a logical person, but this is one area where emotion takes over.  From a young age, I’ve always said my parents are the most important people in my life.  They brought me into this world, raised me, and loved me unconditionally.  Therefore, they are my first priority.  I would side with them over anyone else, even my significant other.  That is what logic tells me.  Then how come when something happens, like a new Star Wars movie is coming out or I got a promotion at work or I saw cat chasing a dog, I think of someone else?  Because that is what my heart tells me.

Today is YC's and my 27^th wedding anniversary.  Ever since we started dating, she has been my soulmate.  Every time something happens, I would think of telling her.  I would tell her about my day at work – projects, meetings, lunch conversations, the commute home, etc.  If I hung out with my guy friends, I would tell her about the stupid things we did and talked about.  It doesn’t matter if it’s not important – like getting ice cream at work today.  It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t care – like the Leafs just won the draft lottery.  I always think, “Holy cow! I can’t wait to tell YC!”

This continued to happen after she left us.  Something would happen, I would think of telling YC about it, then I would be sad that I couldn’t do it in person.  When important things happen, I will visit her and tell her.  For example, M1 and M2 going to university, M3 getting a co-op placement, my niece and nephew getting engaged (not to each other, just to clarify).  But it’s telling her about all the little things that I miss.  Sometimes when I get a quiet moment, like at night before I sleep, I recall all the things during the day that I would tell YC.

I got a free sample in the PATH today.  Have to wash bed sheets this weekend.  It was so windy my umbrella broke again.  I forgot my water bottle.  I bumped into Fred and Ethel today.  My coworkers and I went to Chinatown for lunch.  A pigeon almost flew into my head!  There’s a new Toy Story movie coming out.  Pantene’s on sale at Shoppers’ Drug Mart.  There was a big lineup at Union Station just to go up the escalator.  Connor McDavid might come to Toronto.

YC, my love, I hope you have a good day today.  Happy Anniversary.  I will talk to you again tonight, my soulmate.

Big Oh