it's almost surreal

[slipstreamsurfr]

I started work on an undergrad degree, any undergrad degree, off and on, some 26 years ago. There were years I didn't go to school. Work, life, all sorts of things getting in the way. Along the way I changed my mind, my major, many times. There have been many ideas, many dreams, many plans over the years. In the end I opted to take the smart way out, to complete, in what I could complete in with what I had. Realizing that all I had to do was fulfill some lower end credits with CLEP exams and a couple of higher level classes I set to work. It took about a year to take the 27 credits, 6 classes of CLEP exams(18 of those 27 credits), this with taking a handful of upper level English classes to round out what I needed to complete.

Then it was done. All the t's crossed, all the i's dotted. The petition for graduation was submitted and I waited. Had I really gotten everything together for them, was it all there, did it all count. I got the letter telling me I had met the requirements and was scheduled to have my degree conferred on the 5th of March.

As I sit here this morning and look at my undergrad degree hanging on the wall of my office I think about all the things that have transpired in my life since I started this journey. It's been very nearly a surreal trip. I wonder what the future will hold. I've got a grad school application in progress. I've investigated what it will take to be able to fly again. Who knows what the future will bring. There were many times I never thought I'd be able to sit here and see my diploma on the wall.

Of course there are side effects.

Everyone asks me now... how do you say your middle name? ;)

Comments

[drenilop.livejournal.com]

Congratulations again!!!! I'm really impressed with what you've done to get this done. You can do anything if you put your mind to it!!

[ariel817.livejournal.com]

Hah, funny tagline at the end.

Well, wow. It has been a journey, and you should be so proud of yourself for seeing it through. Doesn't matter how many years, or what twists and turns life threw at you, you still did it. No one will ever take that piece of paper away from you! Never again will a degree-required job freeze you out (to their detriment, we all knew!)

I still fondly remember the classes we shared together, and the stories from them! Wish you luck on your future ones, and wish I could share some of those, too - those were fun days!

"If someone pumps poisonous gas into the air supply and then robs a bank, is it burglary or robbery?" *snicker*

if not for the middle-name issue....

[ms-editor.livejournal.com]

.... I'd try to throw you a parade :)
Don't want to complicate your life!
But don't we need to celebrate?
I remember getting a victoria's secret GC when I got my bachelor's
.... not that I'm giving anyone hints/advice !!

Lynda

[smallerdemon.livejournal.com]

Congratulations. :) I will clink a sip of Irish Stout in your honor tonight. And perhaps read some W.B. Yeats aloud for you.

University

[xaminmo.livejournal.com]

Congrats! What degree did you receive? Did you end up with minors hanging off of it?

A Nederlander online says it with the E silent, and the A sounds like AE in Aero. 'Æl"

Re: University

[slipstreamsurfr.livejournal.com]

I cobbled together a BA in Liberal Studies from my many-sorted-some-odd credits. The school didn't allow minors hanging off of it. It's good enough that it's done and now I can look at grad school :)