Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 congratulated outgoing seniors during the Mid-Year Recognition Ceremony in the Lamont Forum Room yesterday afternoon.

While most students in Lamont yesterday prepared for exams and papers that they must complete to make it to next semester, 76 Harvard seniors and their friends and families assembled yesterday in the library’s forum room to celebrate the commencement of life outside the gates at the Mid-Year Graduates Recognition Ceremony.

Kate E. Delaney ’06, a member of the 2006 Senior Class Committee (SCC), which organized the event in conjunction with the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA), expressed her happiness at being able to celebrate the students’ achievements. “The graduates appreciate it since after they take their finals many of them leave,” she said.

Blake S. Walsh of the HAA praised the SCC for helping to organize the fourth annual ceremony.

“The Senior Class Committee is a great group and they were the ones who pushed the event. These are their classmates and they feel pretty passionate about wanting to recognize them and their accomplishment,” he said.

Lowell House Master Diana Eck addressed the mid-year graduates, praising their unconventional experiences at Harvard.

“I think there is something really valuable about graduating midyear and thinking about Harvard in a different way, as more than hoopla. The real Harvard is not the ‘Fair Harvard’ of tubas and marching bands; it is a community of thought and wisdom,” she said.

Dunster House Master Roger B. Porter encouraged students to reflect and record what they liked most about their Harvard education. He advised people to pursue education and travel and noted that most of the students who were graduating mid-year had probably undergone a unique experience involving both.

Tracy “Ty” Moore II ’06 inserted humor into the ceremony, drawing laughs from the audience by repeatedly referring to the mid-year graduates as “middies” in a light-hearted set of reflections.

One of the mid year graduates, Michael S. Papish ’02-’06, who took time off to start a company, jokingly told his peers, “Your Harvard degree is totally useless,” but admitted that at least it would keep his mom from bugging him about his college diploma.

Fellow graduate Meghan T. Donohue ’05-’06, said she was happy to have a ceremony marking her achievement.

“All my blockmates and friends graduated last year. I mentally checked out in October.”

Although she has several job offers she said she wants to travel before deciding upon her next step.

Siddhartha K. Agarwal ’06, who was graduating early with advanced standing said, “I feel inspired, tears in my eyes. I’m not done with classes yet but this is a nice gesture by all the organizers.” He plans to work at McKinsey’s Dubai office before returning for the June commencement ceremony.

Some graduates had not yet finished their exams, but were still happy to celebrate. “It’s nice to be done although I still have two finals and a paper to write,” said Gregory J. Gagnon ’06, who is planning on starting a career as an artist making video installations.

Cailin O’Connor ’05, however, had finished all her work and related the joy of turning in her final assignment. “I turned in my last paper and without even thinking about it a smile was on my face,” she said. “I literally skipped three blocks, was watching bad T.V. shows, and thinking to myself ‘Oh My God, I’m done!’”

—Staff writer Doris A. Hernandez can be reached at dahernan@fas.harvard.edu.