Who needs all that pomp and circumstance when you’ ve got the New York City subway. A Hunter College graduate missed out on his commencement ceremony…
Who needs all that pomp and circumstance when you’ ve got the New York City subway.
A Hunter College graduate missed out on his commencement ceremony because he was stuck on a severely delayed E train, so his fellow straphangers banded together and helped him celebrate on the subway.
“I was on track to be at my commencement at 9: 15 a.m., but the delays altogether ended up taking almost three hours, ” Jerich Marco Alcantara, who was graduating from the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing, told New York Magazine.
“After 45 minutes, I knew I was already late, but I kept hoping that I’ d at least make it to walking the stage.”
When it became all too clear he wasn’ t going to make it, one of Alcantara’s pals sprung into action, presenting him with a “diploma” on his cell phone as another rider played “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) ” by Green Day.
“It wasn’ t so much an idea, but something that just happened, ” Alcantara said of the subway ceremony. “Everyone was getting antsy and impatient, so I figured I’ d lighten the mood by thanking everyone for coming out. That led to applause, and the rest just followed.”
The celebration didn’ t end there. When the grad finally arrived at Hunter College’s Brookdale campus, his pals gave him a second party in the empty auditorium.
“It was a great time, ” Alcantara said.
And he even got a shoutout on Twitter from Hunter College:
