By Matthew Oudkerk\/\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is that time of year\u2014commencement and the many ceremonies surrounding it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Approximately 260 undergraduate students and 230 graduate students will be graduating on May 20, according to Vice President of Marketing and Communications Laurie Ward. Nineteen students will be double majors earning two degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The day will begin with a begin with a strawberry breakfast at 7:30 a.m. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Business and psychology were the two most popular undergraduate degrees this year, with counseling and biomedical sciences being the two most popular graduate degrees, according to Ward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although there will be one ceremony for commencement, there are a number of events in the days before commencement, including the doctoral hooding, the baccalaureate, ROTC commissioning and the nursing pinning ceremony, Ward said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want the day to be effortless for the graduates and the families \u2013 able to enjoy and celebrate all that brought them to this day,\u201d Laurie Ward explained. \u201cAt Hood, commencement is the greatest day of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For many, commencement is representative of the culmination of hard work, as well as the validation behind the many expenses that can be accrued over the course of an academic career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ward recalled what her commencement was like 30 years ago. \u201cI am a first-generation college student and I remember the pride my parents and grandmother had after the ceremony – for me to graduate and for my family to pay for my education, but we all knew that it was worth it.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"