For Mum and Dad’s last full day in the US I suggested we rent a car and drive to Yosemite National Park, a 3-4 hour drive from San Francisco. We had an early start and were on the road by 7am. We got caught up in some of the peak hour traffic, stopped off to buy some fresh fruits in the Central Valley, and it was late morning by the time we made it into the Yosemite Valley.
It was a PERFECT day to see the park. It was sunny and clear, warm but not hot, and the above-average snow melt this Spring meant that all the waterfalls were really gushing. We spent the day in and out of the car and covered all the highlights of the park in a long but thoroughly enjoyable day.
Bridalveil Falls:
Yosemite Falls:
Half Dome from the Valley Floor:
Valley View:
Tunnel View:
Glacier Point
Glacier Point:
We flew down to Mexico the morning after my graduation. My parents had recently bought into a global timeshare and wanted to try it out for the first time in the Pacific coast city of Mazatlan. Our resort was the dated Balboa Towers, but what it lacked in style it made up for in location – directly fronting the beach with views of the islands off the coast.
We generally took it easy for the entire week. We took a short tour down around the old town centre (nothing much there…) and saw the cliff divers. We ate like kings most nights, and Dad and I went down to the brand new Estrella del Mar golf course for a round one day. Adriana arranged for us to sail across to Goat Island one afternoon, which had a great stretch of beach and some tracks to hike.
Cliff diving…
Dad works his way out of a bunker. Yum.
The view from Goat Island. Mum and Dad on a catamaran.
Sunset from our hotel room, overlooking Bird Island.
I celebrated my last night as an MBA student in style, inviting my family, Adriana and our family friend Arlene out for a lovely dinner at Julius’ Castle, a fancy restaurant about two blocks from my apartment up on Telegraph Hill with fantastic views of the bay, the Bay Bridge and the East Bay. It was definitely a meal and a night to remember, and really great to have my family in town from Australia for such an important event.
At Julius’ Castle. The view from our table!
The graduation ceremony began early the next morning. Originally the ceremony was planned to be outdoors at the Greek Theatre on campus, but iffy weather meant that the ceremony was shifted indoors into the cavernous Haas Pavilion (the last time that had happened was 1994!).
The ceremony was a fairly short affair and definitely more low-key than what I was used to in Australia. Some classmates didn’t bother to dress up and even wore casual clothes/shorts under their gowns (a Berkeley thing apparently…). The gowns themselves were different to what I was used to and zipped up at the front; I was wearing my grandfather’s gown which was open. Along with the black gown we wore a hood (with cafe latte brown colour inside for business administration) and the ubiquitous black trencher cap with blue and gold tassles.
We walked in to the centre of the pavilion and took our seats. There was a brief intro by the Dean Tom Campbell and then a short motivational/leadership speech by Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflicks. Following that was a humorous speech by two of my classmates, Dave Levine and Adam Gouttierre, that was hilarious and full of inside jokes (that none of my family got). Finally, we all took turns walking across stage to collect the (fake) diploma, shake hands with the dean and pose for photos.
After the graduation ceremony at Sather Gate.
The school put on a lovely reception directly following the ceremony at the Campanile Esplenade, directly in front of the clock tower at the centre of campus. It was the perfect event to relax and unwind, and a good chance to say goodbye to a lot of people we likely won’t see again for a long time (or ever!). I had mixed feelings about it all finishing up after two of the most amazing years of my life.
Mitch, Josh, Me, John and Noel. Ben Cain and I after the ceremony.
Dave, Emil, Nathan, Me.