The second your cap and gown hit the pavement, you're just like the rest of us, more hungry souls trapped in line at Chipotle.

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By the time I was sporting my nylon (get-too-close-to-the-sun-and-it-will-sizzle-up) cap and gown, I realized that English Literature was absolutely the wrong choice for me.

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But earlier yesterday, just down the road, about 100 students protested quietly, including Joshua Everett, a graduate in Middle Eastern studies and Arabic, wearing his cap and gown.

NPR: Quiet Protest Greets Vice President Cheney at BYU

At central Missouri's Columbia College, the hunt for students on the verge of graduating worked so well that the school plans to broaden its efforts to find bachelor's degree candidates who are just one class shy of donning the cap and gown.

WSJ: Colleges track former students to boost degrees