Graduation Day went beautifully. This is my third year of attending and there were very few graduates in my department that I did not know at all and most I knew well. I taught many (both graduate and undergraduate). This made me feel full and proud. However it is a bit scary to send them off in such a lousy economy. They all looked thrilled and proud of themselves but a little wary.
Several of our undergraduates will be back next year in our master's program and two of our masters' students will be in our doctoral program. We've yet to graduate a doctoral student, but that may change next year.
I also got to have lunch with my favorite (ex)-research assistant ever, DeeDee, who came to see her best friend graduate. DeeDee and I can talk nonstop all day long but rarely get the opportunity to do so. I can't believe its been a year already since she graduated.
But Graduation Day was about more than being a proud professor this year. This year Pumpkin graduated. Pumpkin graduated college at 20 years old, summa cum laude, and with the university's highest award. She is amazing in every way and I was beyond proud to watch her graduate in both ceremonies. (Yes, we do two graduations--a large university-wide and a smaller school ceremony--that are both are the same day. It makes for one very long day and the faculty are all pretty giddy by the end).
Pumpkin's grandparents and boyfriend flew in for the event and her best friend threw her a lovely party. I baked cupcakes (pink with purple frosting) at her request (in between grading and data collection). After the party we all went out to dinner (b, Angel, myself, Pumpkin, her boyfriend--who needs a name but I'm to brainfried to think of one--her grandparents and her little sister) at a fancy french restaurant. It was lots of fun and Pumpkin was in her full glory.
It was definitely a Big Event Day that, while I was very happy to be a part of, I am even happier to have behind me. I am anxious to get on with summer break and all it has to offer. Even though I am officially done with the semester, it doesn't feel done this morning because of data collection this afternoon. My student research team will be there and will do a tremendous job, but really I just want to laze around in bed reading fiction all day.
b has promised we can do just that tomorrow AND I get waffles and eggs for breakfast.
1 comment:
Congratulations to Pumpkin and to you! You must be so proud of all those accomplishments. Summa Cum Laude at any age is impressive, but earning those honors at the age of twenty is remarkable.
When I hear people groan about "kids today," I always remind them of stories like this one. I think this up-and-coming generation is awesome (and they're way better than I was at their age).
Enjoy those waffles and eggs...and a bit of well deserved rest:)
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