CU Engineering Graduation (Friday, December 18th, 2015)

Today is a big day for our oldest daughter, and we are so excited for her! She is graduating from the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado Boulder with an honors distinction.  It has not been an easy road, but a road that we expect will be well worth the struggles as she moves into her professional life.

She and her husband left early this morning to be on campus with plenty of time to connect with the other graduates, and Steve's parents came to our house so we could all ride together.  It was very cold outside so we bundled up and headed out to Boulder. The Engineering graduation was held in Mackey Auditorium, in a nice intimate setting since it is the off season graduation.

We found the perfect seats, and prepared ourselves for an amazing day.  We expected 16 people in all.  My parent's weren't allowed to travel from Arizona to Colorado for health reasons, so they were definitely missed, but we were blessed with the presence of Steve's parents, his brother and sister-in-law and our niece, our youngest daughter, our daughter's husband's family and a good friend of our daughter's. As it came close to graduation time, we were still missing a few people.  There had been several roll-over accidents on highway 93 because of blowing snow, and the highway had to be closed. Some of our daughter's in-laws were caught in the traffic jam, and we weren't sure they were going to make it.  Our hearts sank for them. Eventually everyone did make it, making for a great day for all.  You can see her excitement as she walks in carrying the banner for her discipline.

She's the first graduate in her discipline, so fun!

Our oldest daughter is in the Engineering Plus discipline, and is the first graduate within this incredible new discipline which came to be three years ago.  Engineering Plus is a program that allows engineers to learn all of the disciplines of Engineering through design courses, and in conjunction add an emphasis that they believe will provide them an edge beyond their Engineering degree (in our daughter's case, a Business Minor).

They started announcing the Engineering graduates, first the doctorates, then the masters and finally the undergraduates by discipline.  They went through several disciplines, and when they got to our daughter's discipline, there was a long pause and a little confusion.  We weren't sure what was going on.

Dr. Davis, Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science

Our daughter waiting as there is a little confusion

They finally called her name but as she started across the stage, Dr. Davis, Dean of the School of Engineering, stopped the commencement and started talking about the Engineering Plus discipline and how our daughter is the first graduate with this degree.  

Her name is finally called, and she starts to walk across the stage

By this point, Dean Davis had switched from is formal regalia to his Santa hat

He then proceeded to talk about her work and accomplishments at the University of Colorado Boulder and how she was the 2015 Student Employee of the Year for the university.  It was a very touching moment between the two of them, as well as for all of us watching this unfold.

A very unexpected surprise!

They pose for a picture as her award is presented

With a lot of pride in his heart, he presented her with an amazing award.  It was a really proud and unexpected moment for her, as well as all of us.  Her Engineering graduation was a very special day.

Oh yeah, and she got her diploma too!

A lot of happy graduates

As we left the graduation, we went back home and were joined by family and friends to celebrate a well deserved graduation.

Our daughter with her husband and in-laws

Our family

A dear friend!

There are no words to express how proud we are of our daughter for this major accomplishment in her life!  

We write this blog to capture the important and fun events in our lives, but this post is especially meant for my parents who were not able to attend. We hope you were able to enjoy the details of this great day through our post!