{"id":147030,"date":"2022-06-02T11:37:01","date_gmt":"2022-06-02T15:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=147030"},"modified":"2026-05-22T11:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:14:08","slug":"gallery-the-class-of-2022-mortarboard-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2022\/06\/02\/gallery-the-class-of-2022-mortarboard-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Slideshow: ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Class of 2022 caps off graduation with creative mortarboard art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With a nod to the past and a look to the future, the Class of 2022 marched through Commencement in style \u2014 with a few personal touches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are 11 members of the class who made their regalia their own, from painted mortarboards, to flowers and appliqu\u00e9s, to memes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘New growth’ <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Graduates
Ojochenemi Maji is a geology major from Ikoyi, Nigeria. (Freddie Wright\/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Daisies were the theme of the day for Ojochenemi Maji ’22 of Ikoyi, Nigeria. Her cap, stole, and nails all featured the wildflowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had the Nigerian flag on it this morning, but it fell off,\u201d she said. \u201cI like daisies a lot, but I really just like flowers. They\u2019re free. And it\u2019s the same with butterflies. It feels like freedom, and I feel like that\u2019s what\u2019s happening today, like I\u2019m discovering a new part of myself, like new growth, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

‘Adventure is out there’<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Rebekah Vaules is a French and francophone studies major from Pittsford, N.Y. (Freddie Wright\/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

For her high school graduation, Rebekah Vaules ’22 of Pittsford, N.Y., decorated her graduation cap with a painting of the house from 2009 animated film, Up<\/em>, with the quote, \u201cAdventure is out there!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vaules will teach French at Lewiston High School this fall, so she painted a little red schoolhouse floating in the air, held up by \u201cballoons\u201d of white apple blossoms, and another quote from Up<\/em>: \u201cThanks for the adventure; now go have a new one!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing she\u2019s gained in college? \u201cConfidence. I\u2019m focused on doing what I want, instead of being worried about what others are thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Las tres graduadas<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Graduates
From left, seniors Daniah Foster, an American studies major from Shelton, Conn., Rachel Retana, a politics and gender and sexuality studies double major from Chicago, Ill., and Adama Diaby, a politics major from New York City. (Freddie Wright\/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These three friends spent the day together, and all took different themes with their caps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniah Foster ’22 of Shelton, Conn., wanted to match her cap and shoes, glitter and all. \u201cThey\u2019re all neutrals, which I love.\u201d Pink, gold, and white flowers and leaves frame \u201cClass of \u201922\u201d on her cap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Retana ’22 of Chicago, Ill., printed out a loter\u00eda<\/em> board to put on her cap. Loter\u00eda<\/em> is a game of chance, \u201clike Mexican bingo,\u201d she said, but it\u2019s played with boards and a deck of cards with pictures instead of number balls. \u201cI\u2019m Mexican, and my family emigrated here when I was a kid, so I wanted to have something that is kind of sentimental to them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adama Diaby ’22 of New York City bordered her message with rhinestones .\u201cI was trying to go simple, so it\u2019s all things that I am: pretty, educated, and graduated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

‘Sexy scholar gig’<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Graduates
Olivia Dimond ’22 is a theater major from Henrico, Va. (Freddie Wright\/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With a director\u2019s chair, sock and buskin theater masks, pencil, UFO, and waving green alien, Olivia Dimond ’22 designed her cap to illustrate major themes of her time at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hailing from Henrico, Va., theater was a huge part of her college career. As a member and artistic director of the Robinson Players, she directed an out-of-this-world play \u2014 The Gap<\/em> \u2014 that \u201csort of dealt with alien abduction?\u201d She laughed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quote on her cap, \u201cthe sexy scholar gig,\u201d is a line from another play she directed as her senior thesis, Rapture, Blister, Burn<\/em>, in February. She also loves to write, and wrote for the student newspaper, The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Student<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Blossoming future<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Jenniflore Beaubrun ’22 is a mathematics major from Hyde Park, Mass. (Freddie Wright\/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After seeing her friend using flowers to decorate her cap, Jenniflore Beaubrun ’22 of Hyde Park, Mass., decided to follow suit, gluing and sewing flowers and ribbons onto her cap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI started doing this last night, and I realized I had the wrong glue, so I was sewing it in, but then I just got my nails done, so it was a little hard to sew it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

‘It’s over, it’s done!’<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Commencement
Zane Rahabi ’22 is a geology major from Westwood, Mass. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Zane Rahabi ’22 of Westwood, Mass., displays a meme that he printed and affixed to his cap, depicting a moment from the final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI say it a lot, like whenever I finish something,” he says. “When I finished my thesis, I said, \u2018It\u2019s over, it\u2019s done!\u2019 and I just thought it was a fitting thing to put on the cap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(The meme, he says, is a bit of a misquote of Frodo Baggins, whose actual gasping words after finally flinging the One Ring into the bubbling lava of Mount Doom, are, \u201cIt\u2019s gone<\/em>. It\u2019s done!\u201d To which his faithful companion, Samwise Gamgee, replies, \u201cYes, Mr. Frodo, it\u2019s over now.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Rahabi, \u201cit\u2019s been a long and arduous journey. I haven\u2019t had to climb any volcanoes or anything or throw anything into them, but I feel like it\u2019s a similar vibe.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s another similarity between Rahabi’s journey and Frodo’s: Good fellowship and friends along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

‘A little bit of home’<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Janell Sato is a biology major from Honolulu, Hawai’i. (Freddie Wright\/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Wound around her head, Janell Sato ’22 of Honolulu, Hawai\u2019i, wore a haku lei, which she made herself, with red roses and raffia, to bring \u201ca little bit of home\u201d with her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou just get some hay \u2014 it\u2019s called raffia in Hawai\u2019i \u2014 and wind it around some different leaves and roses. It\u2019s a common thing that happens during graduation in Hawai\u2019i.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her mother, who came to watch her walk, wore a matching haku lei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Keep moving forward’<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Graduates
Isabella David ’22 is a politics major from East Elhurst, N.Y. (Freddie Wright\/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Isabella David ’22 of East Elhurst, N.Y., wrote a quote from one of her favorite movies, the 2007 animated film, Meet the Robinsons<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe movie\u2019s about finding your family, even in turbulent times, and persevering through it. It\u2019s been a little bit of a turbulent year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the most recent turbulence? Last week she got her laptop stolen, and got COVID for the second time, making her miss senior week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou gotta just keep going through it,\u201d she smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

All eyes on you<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Alex Teplitz ’22 is an English major from New York City. (Freddie Wright\/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really like eyes,\u201d  explains Alex Teplitz ’22 of New York City. As a member of the Discordians, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½\u2019 tabletop gaming club, they have a dungeons and dragons character who is themed around eyes, \u201cSince my freshman year of college, getting involved with the Discordians, I have always had this sort of fun fascination with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teplitz knew they wanted the cap to represent their interest in tabletop RPGs, but the googly eyes weren\u2019t the first option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was going to put some dice on it, but then the eyes are just fun to look at, and they\u2019re all jiggly, and I looked at it and thought: biblical angel, makes people stare at it, fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a nod to the past and a look to the future, the Class of 2022 marched through Commencement in style \u2014 with a few personal touches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":147113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"bates_author_byline_override":"Freddie Wright","_estimated-read-time":"","_post-template":"","_header-color":"#000000","_photo-credit":"","_header-effect":"parallax","override_related_with_tag":"","_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[4,11012,11009],"tags":[10831,12288],"class_list":["post-147030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-life","category-student-life","category-the-college","tag-commencement","tag-commencement-2022"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147030"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147187,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147030\/revisions\/147187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}