Congratulations are in order for good friend and fellow forum member Stephen, aka Jake/Jakers who is graduating this morning from Syracuse University. I was honored to have been invited to dinner last night with him, his Mom and Dad, his Grandfather and his good friend from home.

It seems like such a short time ago that he started school here. We've shared lots of adventures together and I'll be sorry to see him leaving the area.

Stephen plans to continue his education this fall at U. of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Mom and Dad, Paul and Cheryl, necessarily plan to continue working a while longer...

They are happy to see the days of their long drives to Syracuse come to an end and are anxious to get back to fishing on Lake Michigan where Cheryl catches the biggest fish!

Congratulations Stephen!!!

Wishing you the best now and in the future.

Well done Stephen! Congratulations !!

I'M PROUD OF YOU STEPHEN!!!!
Sue, did you take any pictures that you can post here of you with the graduate?

Congratulations Stephen

Congratulations, Stephen! I'm sure your parents will appreciate the shorter drive to WI.

Congrats, Jakers! It seems just like yesterday you were in your freshman year. Where has the time gone? What are your plans now that you're out of school?

Bob

Way to go Jakers!
Congrats to Paul & Cheryl!

Bob

Congratualations to Stephen and his parents!

Seems like only yesterday, Jakers played the part of "Little Buddy" for the Collector Forums. His real name was a mystery since he was so young.

And now, he's a Syracuse College Graduate on the way to Grad School in Milwaukee! Wow! (Even chose a grad-school close to lighthouses!)

I've scanned through my photos to give you a look at Stephen through the years. If you've got some of the "boy-collector", please feel free to add them here.

I'll email his mom and see if there are any 'bear-skin rug' shots. (Just kidding, kid.)


Age 10 - Already 'hooked' on lighthouses.


Baltimore 2001 Reunion among his WACKO friends & family.
(His mom, Cheryl, is to the right and in front of him and his dad, Paul, is to the right of him wearing the dark blue shirt.)


L-R: Jakers, Paul, Bill, John


L-R: Bill, Jakers


Best Buddies: Mombo (Sue) and The Wunderkind


Undated.

Congratulations, Stephen! We are all very, very proud of you!

The second picture is on the cruise during the Baltimore reunion (Oct 2001). He and Heather were both sophomores and skipping school to attend.

Congratulations Stephen!

Congratulations, Stephen!

Sorry no photos from the other night. Neither Stephen or I brought cameras.
Cheryl had one though and did take a picture of Jakers and I.
So thanks for those you posted John. Didn't realize he was aboard at 10! The Kid hasn't changed all that much, taller, no glasses, hair's a bit longer. But most importantly his personality hasn't changed at all!

Oh yeesh...so many photos...this is why I hang out behind the camera, haha.

Thank you for all the well wishes! It's still slowly sinking in that I won't be in Syracuse anymore, but I think it won't really hit until August. It does seem like I had just moved in, but I guess time really does fly when you're having fun.

As Sue said, we had a lot of adventures over my four years there. If it wasn't for her, I'd probably still barely know my way around there and have seen nowhere neara what I did. Or set off alarms at the Canadian border...

Now, it'll be off to University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a MUCH shorter drive (which I am really looking forward to) to study urban planning. It'll be different, but I'm looking forward to living and learning there. And hey, you can't beat being four blocks from Lake Michigan!

Thank you once again for all of the well wishes. I know I have been kind of MIA for the past few years, but I do pop in from time to time to see what's going on. So I'm here, just lurking in the shadows.

First of all I'd like to say hi to everyone. Haven't posted in a long time but we have been reading over the years. Now on to my post.

CONGRATULATIONS STEPHEN!!!

We are so proud of you. We remember dropping you off in August of 2003. So far from home, so young and not knowing a single soul on the Syracuse University campus. But we had confidence. We felt we raised you well and that you would be able to succeed on your own. And you did. You made lots of friends and many great memories that will last a lifetime.

Now Stephen didn't say what he did in school, but that's what parents are for.

He graduated with a BA in Geography with minors in Architectural History and Political Science.
He was on the Dean's List, an active member of Phi Sigma Pi Co-ed National Honors Fraternity and a member of the National Geography Honors Society.

Graduation weekend was really nice. We had dinner with Sue (Mombo) on Saturday and after hearing some of the stories her and Stephen were telling we're just hoping he doesn't have a police record in some state out east. lol.
Seriouly, We would like to thank you Sue for watching out for him. We felt better knowing he at least knew someone out that way. So we'll stop rambling on now.

Congratulations Stephen - We couldn't ask for a better son.

Mom & Dad
Cheryl & Paul

Stephen will be posting pictures because we just don't know how.

Stephen,

It does seem like yesterday when you were the high school kid in the midst of all the grown up lighthouse fans.

Congrats on graduation!!!!!!!!!!! All the best in grad school.

Mary and Jeff

p.s. Way to go Cheryl and Paul getting him through the first 4 years!!

Jakers,

Get with your mom and dad and come down to Indy for the Indianapolis Regional, June 23, 2007 , we all would sure like to see you guys!!!

Now I have no guide if I come to look at Syracuse again! Oh no!

Congratulations! It seems like just the other day that there was a thread about you heading off, so the time really has flown.

Best of luck in Wisconsin. Cool fields of study, too!

-the new "high school kid in the midst of all the grown up lighthouse fans."

Here are some photos from the weekend:

[img]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/211/503971349_39498a4e71.jpg?v=0[/img]

My Parents (Paul and Cheryl) and I

[img]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/204/503971115_2b8e7ae89d.jpg?v=0[/img]

My Grandpa and I

[img]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/196/503932526_cee9444b70.jpg?v=0[/img]

Sue (Mombo) and I at dinner

[img]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/224/503970889_e037d56666.jpg?v=0[/img]

Frank McCourt at the big Commencement ceremony on Sunday.

[img]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/230/503932068_67eeed0d37.jpg?v=0[/img]

Finally, my mortarboard. The photo is the Milwaukee Museum of Art (for Milwaukee), an orange (for Syracuse), and Daniel Burnham's "Make no little plans" quote (for planning).

For those who might be curious, the full quote is: "Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency." I felt like it was quite appropriate.

Thanks again to my parents, Sue, and everyone! I'm going to really miss Syracuse, but I'm still excited for Milwaukee!

Transcript of remarks by Frank McCourt

A video link is also provided.

An example...

Way to go Stephen, Congratulations.