Hashbrowns, Hibachi, and Knoxville Traffic

After a night of uneasy sleep, the alarm on my phone went off at 6:30 a.m. on December 13th, 2019. It was still dark outside. With only brief hesitation, I jumped out of bed and changed attire. I lazily brushed my hair in my dimly lit bedroom and went downstairs to wait on Hallie. At around 6:45, I walked in her room to remind her to wake up.

I kept pacing around the living room waiting for her to walk down the stairs. Each passing minute was another ounce of stress added to our plans. We had a graduation to get to over and hour and half a way at 9:00.

Once we got out the door, it was as dark as the middle of the night. It was very cold even with a winter jacket on. We got in the car and our first stop was McDonald's-- Hallie had to have something to keep her energy up during the car ride. We pull up and give our order: hashbrowns and a fruit parfait. At the next window, the cashier recites back the wrong order so Hallie reminds her of what we had. She joked that she needed the right order because she had a long drive.

As we made it to the interstate, the immediate jam session happened. Harry Styles released his new album at midnight the night prior so that's what we listened to most of the ride. After listening to select tracks multiple times, we moved on to Niall Horan, Lizzo, and Weezer. The sky progressively went from midnight black to early morning blue to a hazy grey. Little light began to make its way through the rain clouds that rested over the interstate.

The miles to Knoxville number went down with every interstate sign we passed and I kept staring back at forth at the car clock and the sign. In my head one mile = about one minute. We could make it before 9:00, right?

(I guess before I get any further along, I should explain why we're going to Knoxville. One of my friends, Ben, was graduating from UTK at the 9:00 ceremony. Before commencement we had to go pick up Hannah, our friend and his girlfriend. Okay, moving onward.)

With a few abrupt turns (but no wrong turns), we made it to the apartment to pick Hannah up. It was barely before 9:00, but I wasn't too concerned at that point about being late. I mean, we at least made it to Knoxville and we on our way. We headed towards Thompson-Boling Arena and traffic was crawling at a slow pace. Apparently we weren't the only ones running behind.

Our first and only attempt to park was at the parking garage attached to the arena. Hallie asked the man directing traffic, "Is there gonna be enough spots for us in there?" To which his reply was, "I hope so." We drove up to the third floor where as we were waiting to find a spot we saw Abby Bryant, a former ETSU Wesley member. She was there to see her brother graduate!

We followed the flocks of people as they climbed the stairs to the exterior of the arena. A lady with a younger girl behind me mentioned that they were also just following where everyone went, and I turned around and said to them something along the lines of, "I don't know where I'm going, I hope these two do," pointing to Hallie and Hannah.

There were about three lines for security checks leading into the building. Hannah, Hallie, and I all waited in the center line. By this point it was about 9:20. We got through security without a problem and had to go find seats.

Surprisingly, it wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be to find three seats together. Ben was seated left of the stage so we needed to sit on the left side of the arena. We ended up sitting in the back row of a section on the middle level. The seat order went me, Hannah, Hallie. We didn't miss much of the ceremony, but we did miss the part where they introduced the graduates who were at the top of their program.

One of the first things I noticed while listening to the commencement speaker was that the floor space was very tight in comparison to ETSU's graduations. Having been on the graduation floor several times for ETSU's ceremonies, I can't imagine how hard it would be for photographers to navigate around the graduates and the chaos. In addition there was an ASL interpreter that I was captivated by. It's very easy to get lost in translation (quite literally) and just watch them sign.

An honorary doctorate was awarded to a man who was the first African American to be admitted to UTK as an undergraduate, which honestly was a very moving and powerful moment to witness. After studying the timeline of segregation in history classes my whole life, sometimes it's hard to conceptualize what that looked like locally. This man was and is a hero. I was very proud to give him a standing ovation.

After that time seemed to flow at a non-existent pace. Ben's name would be called near the end of the ceremony. All we could do was watch and wait. I counted the rows and how many fractions of a section we were away from getting to his row.

It was strange to watch: many of the graduates and their families completely left after their names were called. The arena was nearing empty by the time it got to the College of Engineering. That presented a great opportunity for us, though. We were able to move closer to see the stage!

In our new seats, I scanned the sea of black hats and looked for the white hexagon that said "VOLS". He was on the third row from the back. At one point Hallie texted him to turn around and the three of us waved back.

The same way it is with every graduation, when the moment you've waited for happens, it goes by way too quickly. His row stands up and works it way towards the stage. He shakes the hand of a dean. (I guess? I don't know who honestly. Maybe their president. I obviously don't go to UTK.) And just like that, the ceremony is basically over. They dedicate some ROTC students to the service and sing the alma mater. Boom. Done.

And some massive orange and white balloons fell from the ceiling. I wish we got balloons.

We met up with his mom who was a few sections over and chatted for a bit. They took some pictures together before we walked to the other side of the arena to see some of his other family members. On the way to the other side, Ben ran into someone else he knew and talked for a minute. During that time, Hannah and I were distracted by the balloon not too far away we wanted to steal but someone else got to before us.

Ben introduced us to his other family members. Hallie and I sat with each other as Hannah and Ben talked with each other and to the family. It was decided following graduation we'd go to Hibachi together, which about 15-20 minutes away from campus.

Ben, Hannah, Hallie, and I all left the arena together and not only was it cold but also lightly raining. The parking garage wasn't too far, but even then I didn't mind the rain. We struggled to remember what level we were on in the garage but finally found it after scoping out the fourth and third levels.

The ride to Hibachi was about the same music wise, repetitive listening sessions of Harry Styles and Niall Horan music, not complaining though. (I really enjoyed getting to sing "Watermelon Sugar" multiple times with my friends. :)) A hostess at the front of the restaurant directed us to the back where the rest of the party was seated.

Granted, I have never been a Hibachi, especially not a Hibachi Buffet and Grill, so this was very new to me. I went in expecting Japanese and it was like Sakura meets Golden Corral? Japanese food along with literally anything else you wanted. Which was less intimidating because I've only had Japanese like one other time. Hannah, Hallie and I sat at the end of the set of tables pushed together for the group.

It really was a great time. I loved watching everyone interact with one another and everyone seemed to just be filled with joy and appreciation. Who knew a buffet could be such a bonding experience?

We went back to his apartment briefly after Hibachi and got Hallie some coffee. She was fascinated by the coffee machine and the reception desk at the front that looked like it was made out of pennies.

I hugged Ben and Hannah goodbye as we left to head back to Johnson City.

And I type all of this just to say this really:

I think if you look at the picture above (and below), it sums up how I will remember today.

As we walked away from the arena, I couldn't help but smile snapping this picture as three of my friends walked in front of me.

Because it doesn't matter if it's raining,

Or how much sleep you've gotten,

When the moment you're in feels so imperfectly perfect.

No matter where I go with these people I can't help but smile, laugh, and feel full of joy.

And I'm so proud of them.

I'm so lucky to have them.

And I'm glad that all of the vertices of a hexagon lined up to make today happen. (That one's for you, Ben.)

What a day it's been.