ISANA

Lorraine Macmaster, Annalise Tindal

Abstract:  Graduation celebrates the completion or the commencement of an academic career. It has been considered a rite of passage in which we emphasize confronting new responsibilities, opportunities and threats and adjusting to the nostalgia of leaving a familiar scene. At PIBT and CIC, International students can fast track to their 2nd year of University by completing their Diploma. As Student Advisors at these Colleges we are particularly involved with the welcome and the farewell process. We see our students across a bridge.

This paper will discuss the traditions we have put into place at our respective Colleges concerning Graduation. We will consider how International students react to our traditions and how they have created some of their own for us to adopt. We will also contemplate how our students can establish solidarity and readjust to changes when many of them are still in the process of adjusting.

Key Words: Graduation, Tradition, Rewards and Achievement, Adjustment, Cohesion, Reverse Culture Shock

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