Some graduates cheered and hooted and hollered, some laughed, and some cried and hugged friends as they walked the final mile to Cornell's 142nd Commencement Ceremony in Schoellkopf Stadium and the culmination of their Cornell student careers May 30.

"I am really going to miss the Hotel School" was all Ana Perez '10 could say as she and fellow Hotelie Joyce Ke '10 headed into Schoellkopf.

A lot of school pride was evident as the long procession streamed from the Arts Quad to the stadium, such as the chants of "Hotelies! Hotelies!" -- as proud parents snapped photos of their grads along the way.

"She's enjoyed it immensely -- these four years went by so quickly," said Richard Stratton, seated in the stadium to see his daughter, Kendall Stratton, wave a cow inspection glove and earn her DVM from the College of Veterinary Medicine. Kendall is headed to a one-year internship at an equine clinic in Rochester, N.Y., her father said.

"It was awesome, and it's exciting to graduate," said ILR School senior Ryan Holy, who expressed gratitude for his Cornell years and "the diversity here -- I had the opportunity to meet all these different people from all around the country and all around the world," he said. "Also, the opportunities here for different organizations to get involved in is ridiculous." Holy said he was in the fraternity Beta Theta Pi (and served as its president), and worked on the ILR Senior Class Campaign, for two community service youth organizations and at the Statler. "There's so much variety here, and it's a good place to find what your niche is," he added.

Many of the students accessorized their black caps and gowns with colorful regalia. Some College of Architecture, Art and Planning grads, for example, sported feather boas that matched their purple sashes, and a few architecture program graduates wore origami dragons perched atop their mortarboards.

In his Commencement address, President David Skorton noted that some graduates were the first in their families to earn a university degree. He singled out ILR School grad Froilan Malit, the first in his family and his tribe -- the Gaddang of the Philippines -- to get a college degree. Malit worked from the age of 6 with his grandmother as a flower-picker for $2 a day, immigrated to America five years ago speaking only his native language and Tagalog, worked three jobs and attended a community college before transferring to Cornell.

In his time here, Malit founded Global Youth Concept, an organization to combat malnutrition and educational gaps in rural areas of the Philippines. Malit will continue that work while pursuing a master's degree in the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs, Skorton said.

Skorton also cited some legacies among this year's graduates, including fourth-generation Cornellians Christina Croll, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Cornell Daily Sun arts editor Sammy Perlmutter, Arts and Sciences (A&S); and fifth-generation Cornellian Kevin Schoonover '10, a government major in A&S whose father, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather -- as well as six other relatives -- all earned Cornell degrees, a family connection going back to the 1880s.

"I didn't have any interest in coming to Cornell out of family tradition," Schoonover said in an interview. "I only came here to visit as a favor to my grandmother [Jean Way Schoonover '41] -- and I loved it. I thought it was great, and I could really see myself here."

Schoonover praised several faculty members, including Tamara Loos and Paul Hyams, history, and Steve Morgan, sociology. "Steve Morgan has been the most exceptional professor I've had here," he said. "I would recommend that anybody, regardless of major, take sociology; as undergraduates at a generally affluent Northeast school, we can get a perspective you wouldn't see normally."

Clearly, the happy grads agreed with Skorton's sentiments when he said, "All university commencements are special moments in time."