I remember it like it was yesterday.

On a grassy patch on the National Mall in the center of our nation’s capital, the party is over. The Capitol is on one end; the Washington Monument is at the other. And yet, all I can think about are these metal chairs. All 25,000 of them. They are going away now. One by one, they are being folded, stacked, and carted over to the event trucks parked on the nearby streets.

Just minutes ago, this sunny day was abuzz with excitement. The band was playing, the bagpipers piping, the color guards marching, the flags waving, the speakers speaking, the cameras flashing. And then, suddenly, the happy graduates tossed their caps into the air, and when they came down, it was over. The crowd lingered for a while. Congratulations hung in the air. But now all that’s left to show is a platform being dismantled one piece at a time and these metal chairs.

One of which I’m........

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