Graduation season is here.

There’s something exciting about these few weeks, when high school and college students receive their diplomas and degrees and head out into the “real” world.

For those of us who have already gone through the process, it’s a time to reminisce about our own school days and the crazy jumble of emotions we experienced as that chapter of our lives came to a close.

For the parents, other family members and friends of those set to cross on the stage, it’s a time of immense pride in their students’ accomplishments. They’ll be sitting in the audience with their video cameras, cell phones and tablets, trying to record for posterity the exact moment when their Johnny or Susie makes the transition from student to graduate.

For the graduates themselves, it’s that crazy jumble of emotions we spoke of before—relief that the tests and papers are finally at an end (at least, for a while); joy in the anticipation of a ...