St Patrick's Cathedral Graduation Day

Researching through different mediums about the cathedral, I realized how important and famous this place is. I remember sitting in the auditorium of my high school thinking, "what is the Cathedral, why are they making a big deal of this place”, and other ridiculous questions. The principal said depending on how we behave throughout the year would determine where we would graduate. I was literally thinking to my self "WHO CARES WHERE WE GRADUATE, I JUST WANT TO GET MY DIPLOMA"! Looking up all this information, I realized how fortunate I was to actually graduate from this historical and famous place. I actually got to appreciate this place after a couple of years and reflect on the pictures of Facebook, Instagram, and my goggle drive.

I remember arriving at the place through the back and actually feeling a little anxious because the place was so huge. I did not expect a church to look so big and beautiful. I was a little embarrassed at first since my whole family wanted to come and I had to cut it down to about 25 people. I thought we were not going to fit, but arriving at the cathedral I realized that it was big enough to house a lot of people. The Cathedral felt so secure being inside with all the security guards and surveillance cameras. There were big flat screens projecting the cameras and every step you take. You were able to see every spot in the church. As the graduation ceremony was taking place you actually felt the pressure of everyone watching you. All eyes were on the graduates as the most important people in the church. The setting made you feel like you were a part of something big, creating an unforgettable moment.

#GRADUATION

Looking through some of the pictures that made it to social media and some that did not, I really appreciate that I was a part of this. I remember my family using our actual location of the cathedral while taking the pictures, or the hash tag. You could actually see us on the page of Facebook or Instagram. This memory could be taken in the individual, social, collective, or even public due to the social media platforms that are used. We can see it on a personal profile but also on the hash tag and be a part of other people sharing their memories of this place. The use of this mediums demonstrates how in today's age, an individual memory can be collective or public. The media has revolutionized the way we look at memory because our individual memory can become part of a cloud or a trend. A simple graduation picture can go viral and become the pose to take in the Cathedral. All of sudden we can have people just visiting the Cathedral to look for that specific place to take a picture and post it with the hash tag. Media is that impactful on the way a memory can know be shared on different levels and remembered.

This unforgettable moment will solidify my argument in thinking that my individual memory is more important than the public memory that lies in this memorial. I have such a deep connection to this place and area that will live forever with me. I can show just about every picture I got from this day and I remember every single part because of the sentimental value this place has to me. It just goes to show how important this place and moment was in my life. It brought my family into a peaceful and happy union at this special place. Living a special moment like this was very important to me because I realized the value this memory has. Any public memory that may reside in St Patrick’s Cathedral will always be secondary to me because of this individual memory I have with it.

My exhibit does show impactful public memory can be. Public memory is created by s powerful event that everyone takes part in. It can just be with the simple remembering of where you were and what you was doing the day that event took place. The best example is 9/11. This important event created one of the biggest public memory events in history. In the same format, many other places create this type of memory maybe not as powerful, but still create that environment where everyone remembers what actually happened. Everyone has a story of what happened that day with his or her twist. That is what makes public memory so strong and effective in every memorial. This memorial does not have that impact it has on other people because I graduated from High School there. I got the honor to make my family proud and walk down the isle to receive my diploma. This event is just more important than any other event that has happened to St Patrick’s Cathedral in my lifetime. I have special connection to the Cathedral that puts my individual memory over any public memory.