Honestly, I was ready when I got the little APPROVED stamp on top of my clearance form.
Up until that point, I had been scared to death that I'd walk out into the real world and fail. I didn't think I was ready to be an adult--that I'd bad at it and who wants to be bad at being an adult? But when I got graduation clearance, it was an incredible feeling. The university that had "raised" me in a sense was telling me that I was ready and they had faith that I would succeed--that's why they were letting me go. It was like getting the blessing from your parents. That's when I knew I could survive on the other side of the stage and I was UBER geeked when I walked across it!