Israeli Graduation's & Daniels, of course...

Daniel’s Graduation was a bit different then the one I went through. Although very similar at times, there were clear differences.

First off, difference number 1: my ceremony was not spoken in Hebrew. I know, shockingly enough right? Well, there are not enough Hebrew speaking individuals in San Bernadino California, let alone Redlands more specifically, so they decided English was best. They did offer little radio translators so I checked one out. Of course it didn’t work well and really only worked best if I held it head high. So, I sat in the bleachers looking a like a silly foreigner holding a radio above my head so I could attempt to understand what was going on.

The guest speaker was interesting. Benny Landa, the founder and creator of Indigo. The “Champion of Print.” Excited yet? He created digital printing along with over 500 other patents. I’d say he’s pretty brilliant. And a baller too, after selling to HP and he made over $200 million with just the patent alones. But that’s not what’s important. I only caught about half his speech so I can’t really tell you what he said. After the group ceremony they broke off into separate departments. This is when the chaos ensued. When they started calling the students names to hand over the diplomas, families crowded the stage to snap their photos. It was a push and shuv affair. I joined in since I am slightly vertically challenged (thanks mom and dad) and I to wanted to get a picture of our graduate. The ceremony last almost 4 hours by the time everything was done. Too long for me, but it was great to see Daniel graduate. For those of you that don’t know my friend Daniel, it was a big accomplishment. We have been friends for a very long time and we have gone through quite a bit together. In high school we both made some bad decisions. I managed to stray from the pack a bit earlier, which ultimately made the difference with my own graduation a few years ago. Daniel eventually managed to turn things around after spending 3 years in the Israeli army as a paratrooper. It was great to see the excitement and joyful tears his mom shared at the ceremony. We all know how mom’s can get, but we were all very excited! Congrats again dude! I truly admire your perseverance and it’s great to see the character in you that we all saw from the beginning. Daniel graduate with a degree in Business Administration with a major in Finance from The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.

I forgot my camera at home. I took a bunch of pictures with Daniels moms’ camera so I will post them if I can download them from her camera in a few days. Check back.