My eldest son Adam graduated last Saturday. The whole family flew five hours across the country to be there.

What you’ll know about anything as special as a graduation ceremony is that it takes an army of people to pull it off. There are legions of people involved on the day, from caterers to photographers, academic staff to the valedictorian. And a thousand tiny opportunities to touch someone.

The person who stood out to me on Saturday didn’t have a title, a badge or even a clipboard. She was the anonymous woman, who went along the line of graduands adjusting their hoods as they stood waiting to go on stage to accept their degree. She was the last person to offer them a word of encouragement, or place a hand on their shoulder. And she arranged each hood with love.

You don’t need a badge to make a difference.

Image by Gerard Girbes.