Current mood:	happy
Entry tags:	changes, uwf

Edumacation Compleetid
I graduated on Saturday.
I feel great about being done with the degree.
Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame, if the name doesn't seem familiar) gave the commencement address, and he gave us quite a number of pieces of bad advice. Needless to say, the speech was thoroughly enjoyable. Since commencement speeches tend to be of a certain length, having one that is funny is the best one can hope for, and I greatly enjoyed it.
The university awarded Jones an honorary doctorate. I got an empty folder, a lapel pin, and a few handshakes.
The organizers of the event just had stacks of these folders on stage, and as we each got to the edge, we'd hand our card with our information and our name spelled phonetically to one of the marshals, who read it. To save time, the university will send out the actual sheepskins in six weeks, when they know whether we've passed all our classes this semester.
C'est la Vie. I was pleasantly surprised to open the program and see two asterisks by my name. I hadn't known for sure whether I was getting any honors (having been far too busy earning the degree to figure out such things), but I looked to see what two asterisks meant among all the various notations, ranging from Army/Air Force ROTC to a special services recipient to Pace scholarship recipient, and it turned out that the asterisks were fairly straightforward: one meant cum laude, two meant magna cum laude, and three meant summa cum laude. So, I could have worn honor cords. Ah, well. The simple black cap and gown was fine for me.
I now have a BA in Communication Arts. More importantly, I'm free.
"Free at last, free at last! Thank God almighty, I'm free at last!"

I was so happy and proud I wore my mortarboard and tassel to church while I went around and greeted people (I took it off during the service).