PICS Graduation

I have attended a lot of high school graduations in my day, but none more exuberant than the one for PICS’s 65^th Commencement.  There were 307 students who graduated with academic, business, or vocational degrees and several thousand mothers, fathers, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who came to celebrate the moment.  Looking out at the crowd after the ceremony it was hard to imagine anyone from the island who wasn’t there.

Unfortunately, during the 2-3 hour ceremony, the skies opened up three or four times, drenching everyone who was not fortunate enough to be under cover.  When the first storm hit, the graduates were marching from the high school to the track and field, a distance of around 300 yards, so they were pretty much soaked. They were under cover for the rest of the ceremony, as were dignitaries who were seated under a tarp and close family members who had their own assigned covered area.  The majority of the attendees, however, just endured the rain.  It came down so hard at times that it was difficult to hear the speakers.  All that said, however, the rain didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm.  Rain is just a fact of life here—getting wet is not a big deal.

The graduation ceremony was what you would expect—speeches by the salutatorian and valedictorian and young graduates proudly marching across the stage to receive their degrees.  The entire graduating class also sang a couple of hymns—there is absolutely no separation of church and state here.  They sang beautifully, with enthusiasm and feeling that we might not expect from our own adolescents in the States.  There was no keeping the little brothers and sisters and family members with cameras from approaching the area where the degrees were conferred.  Eventually, no one even tried to keep them back. 

The speakers were a “who’s who” of local dignitaries, including school officials, local ministers who provided an invocation and benediction, an elected Senator, the Governor of Pohnpei, and a gentleman known as the Iso Nahnken en Nett—described to me as the traditional leader or “King” of the Nett Municipality.  Most had lengthy speeches, which I wish I understood.  I did catch one phrase by the Governor, which he expressed in English—“You can take a Pohnpeian out of the country, but you cannot take Pohnpei out of a Pohnpeian.”  I suspect he was referencing the fact that there are many graduates who leave the Island for higher education and better futures—unfortunately, there is not much here to hold them back.  All speakers were given a traditional “mwaramwar”—the flowered (or knitted) head-band to wear.  Also, toward the end of the ceremony all of us sitting in the dignitary’s section were given food trays to take home with us.  Mine is pictured below. 

In short, it was a great send off to an excited bunch of young people.  Everyone is happy at a graduation ceremony.  Unfortunately, the graduates may find in time that their education was less than it should have been—but that’s a blog post for another time.

PTA Officer

Ever-present pooch

The Iso Nahnken en Nett.  Note the woven "man bag," which typically contains fixings for a betel nut chew.  You can see the rain coming down.

Pohnpei Governor, Marcelo K. Peterson

Valedictorian

The Principal handing out diplomas--couldn't catch him in a smile.

Members of the junior class handing out a woven lei to all graduates.

Handing out food baskets to all the dignitarites

The Governor with his food basket

My food basket