Suzanne Calling

Suzanne, you just earned your Master's degree, what are you going to do now? Nap for three hours! After attending graduation, we had an early dinner with friends, but we came home and I think all of us napped for a while! I think I'm trying to pace myself for the next five year marathon. :)

It is strange to realize that I did not write about the one biggest hurdle between me and getting my degree here on the blog at all in the weeks leading up to it. The Comprehensive Exam. Many Master's programs require a thesis, a document in which you display your mastery of the course of study that can be reviewed by a committee. Due to the variety of paths that can be taken within the program, as well as what you can do once you have the degree, my program opts for a Comprehensive Exam instead. Four questions, each on a specific area of the program: Research Design, Learning Theory, Interactive Media, and Programming Languages. Thanks to volunteering to be a teaching assistant in the class that ties three of those topics together, I felt I was going to be fine on those areas-and I was. There is nothing better to cement what you know than helping others learn the same concepts (Hmmm, that was driven home in two of my earliest classes, the ones that made me realize I AM...

Well, it seems to have vanished into thin air! I have the Web Page Design, Independent Study, the class I'm TAing, a Meta Analysis with a friend and future colleague, a course to build from scratch to be ready for the first day of fall classes, and studying for my comp exams that are coming up the end of June. That said, I met with the professor and a peer for the Independent Study and we're dividing the work into two halves: the study that has been completed and needs the data analyzed and the study that is about to start and needs a lot of editing and build out. While I'd be happy with either one, I'm really happy that I'll be the one analyzing the data, creating spreadsheets and crunching numbers in SPSS. I'd rather do it over the summer and become familiar with the software before fall classes, where I'll have tests on how well I can do this work. So much for laid back, eh?

Tonight, I attended graduation, not as a staffer (which I'd done several times), nor as a graduate. This time, it was to cheer on some friends. At the 11th hour, though, one of the friends was able to get her application for graduation rescinded so that she could pursue a second major in foreign language. Another graduated tonight and quite a few people I'd attended classes with were among the ranks, too-so I sat in the audience and took pictures and video of the ceremonies. However, the President of the university gave his speech and it sounded familiar. Too familiar. Then he mentioned his fondness for the St. Crispin's Day speech in Henry V and extolled what it meant. Too bad I heard the same speech as I sat in the audience as a member of the December graduating class. The student government president also spoke tonight, as she did in December. Back then, I commented to another friend how her body language and facial expression said she wanted to be anywhere but at ...

Dear Dad, It's been almost twenty years. Yeah, I know, a long time. Lately, I've been thinking about you a lot more than usual. I wonder what things you and the kids would be getting into, whether you and Chef would have been to a Broadway show, a hike or a hundred or whether you'd be debating the merits of various musicians. With Game Teen, you'd probably be pulling that literary storehouse out of the boy and had a lot of patience with his obsessions. The main reason you've been on my mind is that you valued education above all else. It took a long time, but I realize that my passion for books came from you. Your thirst for knowledge was impressive, and you stressed the importance of a good education to me and Giggles. You were so proud of both of us attending college and disappointed when I 'took a semester off' that stretched a lot longer than one semester. Right after you passed away, I returned to school to get those 12 credits done, but I got s...

Earlier this week, I picked up my cap and gown. (It's still sitting in the bag, because the cat will make sure to deposit many fawn colored hairs on that black gown as possible.) The university asks all students to fill out a survey before receiving these items, so I did my part. After completing the task, I was given a little bag with some parting gifts. In with the little trinkets was this little guy: "Oh how cute, I've got a bull of my own!" Rocky stayed in my handbag, because the cat is also partial to gnawing on plastic and/or rubber objects. Wednesday night, I pulled him out to show a friend in class and felt something on the bottom. See: Not only did I get a bull of my own to signify my graduation from USFP, I got an anatomically correct bull. What else would you expect from a research institution? Now I know why Rocky the Bull is clothed at all school events!

I'll be wearing this: Today, I paid for the cap and gown and joined the alumni association. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the incredible all day seminar Ed and I attended today. For now, the bed beckons.