Monday, May 20, 2013

On Graduations and Accomplishments and the dreaded waiting process.

As a professor at a small college, I am required by my contract to attend each Spring's Commencement ceremonies (Winter Commencement is listed as optional, but recommended).


While in part I dread these ceremonies (the uncomfortable chairs, the keynote speeches that rarely vary on topic, the evening commitment), I do love seeing my students walk across that stage.

There were over 250 graduates in attendance, and while I had only taught a handful of them, seeing them reach their goals was fantastic.  I got to meet a few parents, girlfriends, and other family members, and it tickles me when students want to introduce me to people.

My daughter, Mia, will be graduating from High School in a few weeks.  She seemed surprised when family members wanted to come from out of town to attend- saying that it wasn't difficult to graduate from High School, so she didn't know why it was a big deal.  These types of ceremonies are a rite of passage, like senior prom (which I forgot to attend), or your first job, or your first kiss.  These are things you'll remember. For a long time.  These are stories you'll tell to your future partner and possibly your children.

Sometimes accomplishments are not recognized by ceremonies- sometimes we just need to take a moment and recognize ourselves or our loved ones.  Life goes pretty fast...


On the other hand, though, I submitted my comps last Monday, and was told it would take about a week to get my results.  Now, in my world, about a week is approximately 4-5 days.  If it were to be 7-8 days, I'd say "A little over a week" and if it were to be 10 days or so, I might call that a "week and a half."  I don't know what my advisor's definition of "about a week" is, but I am going crazy.  I keep checking my email (all of my emails, because what if they send word via the college email, and I thought it would go to my work/default email??).  I am not worried- I am 98% sure I passed, but I just want that validation so that I can stop, take a moment, and recognize my own accomplishments!

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