The time before Convocation passes much more quickly than one imagines. Initiates, Governors, Regents, Officers soon descend upon the robing area. The air is crackling with anticipation. One can feel the pride and sense of accomplishment of the Initiates, the sense of duty of the College officials. All are bathed in a rare bonhomie that comes with such celebrations of excellence in scholarship and principle.
For those leading the procession, there are signs with our names taped to the floor to assure we proceed in the proper order. During the 30 minutes or so before the Mace is handed to the Secretary, the weight of it begins to have an effect. ACS Executive Director and CEO Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, comes over and gives the Secretary encouragement that all will go smoothly. One knows that in a few minutes it will again be placed in one’s hands and that this is no drill, no rehearsal. The Mace will be presented to 2,000 people and 1,100 or more new Initiates will become Fellows of the ACS, which has been an adventure of at least 13 years of study, joy, tears, and sacrifice. That is what Convocation represents. For many, they have traveled from all corners of the globe to have this almost sacred moment.
The music starts and the Initiates begin their procession. The entry of 1,100 people takes a bit of time. All the while, the Secretary is holding what is probably only 20 or 25 pounds of gleaming metal, but as the minutes pass, one realizes that weight is going to be with one for a while, and the minutes begin to become long.
Both too quickly and too slowly the moment comes when the Mace is visible to the audience. Nothing prepares one for that moment. The instant before, the Secretary is just an honorific person and, in the next instant, becomes the bearer of the symbol representing all the effort of the surgeons, their parents, significant loved ones, children, and their teachers.
It seems everyone in the enormous hall has a camera. They take picture after picture as the Mace proceeds up the aisle, and they don’t stop anytime the Mace is in motion. The longest moment is when the national anthems of Canada and the US are played. The Secretary stands there at center stage holding the Mace. The weight grows heavier, and the Secretary feels almost invisible knowing that the eyes of the multitude are on the Mace, not the person holding it.
The proceedings move on. Great words are spoken. Initiates become Fellows. Fine surgeons are recognized. The great moment for the person who is becoming President arrives, and the inspiring words of the speech are spoken. The closing music begins to play. The Mace moves again. Just as before—more pictures. The Secretary begins to feel the weight lifting. The Mace was not dropped. Happiness is palpable throughout the crowd.
In the robing area, Regents, Officers, Past Presidents press forward to view the Mace and touch it for a moment. Kathryn D. Anderson, MD, FACS, FRCS, who was both a previous Secretary and President of the ACS, asks to hold it one more time. Of course. Even more pictures are taken; then all too soon the guardians come forward to place the Mace back into its private realm until next year. This time I really don’t want to let go. Like Tolkien’s ring, it has taken a certain power over me. It was my precious for a short time. The feeling is too visceral to truly describe. I take joy that others will soon have the same experience and now I share something with all the past Secretaries of the ACS. I will never look at the Mace in the same way again. I now know the power of so profound a symbol and am grateful to have been its keeper for a few moments.
