Given this: Tassels, or liripipes, are also found on mortarboards during university graduation ceremonies and possibly upon the shoes of the graduates at the ceremony. Near the conclusion of the graduation ceremony the tassel that hangs from the graduate's mortarboard is moved from the right to the left. Typically the entire graduating class does this in unison
I suppose that it means that the effort to obtain graduation (symbolized by the tassel) was worth the effort. In italian we could say "il gioco vale la candela"
