Alexandra Carey
fire@soe.ucsc.edu

5th year computer engineering and mathematics student
Proposed graduation date December 2003
Participant in SoE Commencement Ceremony, June 2003

Approximately 3 minutes


It was 1921.  Ernest Hemingway was 22 years old when he moved to Paris.  
He studied; he worked; he hung out in cafes, arguing with his friends.  
He made acquaintances that would change his life, making him think,
interpret, and desire in wholly different ways.  And he drank a lot of
booze.

In Paris in 1921 Hemingway had no classes to pass or fail.  He did not
have to worry about dropping in the 8th week.  His curriculum did not
change a billion times in his 5 years in Paris.  He did not have to
wonder: will I really graduate? or is this a cruel joke?

But he was poor, regardless of how much he worked.  At some times writing
came harder to him than at other times.  He made friends with similar
interests: friends that were always there to annoy him, or to help him
out, or to give him advice, whether or not he wanted it.

Sound familiar?

And in Paris Hemingway developed his own style, discovered his own
interests, and evolved into his own person.  To him, Paris was a kind of
metamorphosis in which he discovered himself and did what he loved with
the people he loved.  And drank a lot of booze.

Of Paris, Hemingway said,
	"Wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for
	Paris is a movable feast."

Maybe you were not here in Santa Cruz very long.  Maybe you were here 
too long.  Maybe you are counting the minutes until you see the 
construction at Baskin for the last time.

But I hope that for you, Santa Cruz was a unique experience --- through
every lesson you banged your head against; every time the stuff you were
studying just suddenly clicked; every morning your room mate got up early
and made you coffee; and even every time your life was, once again, going 
to pieces.

I hope the town and the University had a profound impact on you ---
through discovering the cheapest food in town; through midnight dances 
around campus; through discreetly discussing professors who may or may not 
be here anymore; through studying till 2 a. m.; and, eventually, through 
catching the last bus home.

I hope you have made acquaintances that have changed your life, making 
you think, interpret, and desire in wholly different ways.  I hope that the 
concepts you learned and the people you met will continue to puzzle and 
to delight you.

I hope that for you, wherever you go for the rest of your life, your time
at UC Santa Cruz will stay with you, for Santa Cruz is a movable feast.