I need a sounding board... Re: graduation

[Smileybug]

Gina, I just wanted to say...CONGRATULATIONS!!

 

[Cindy B]

Lets put it this way, this was the school I graduated in in my major, and I only knew about 2 or 3 people sitting near me.

The only reason I knew about streaming live is that my school did that. I really should have stayed home and did it that way. DH's school is having a live TV broadcast. The live broadcast is making him a tad nervous if he is the commencement speaker!

 

[Cindy B]

I just thought of something else. Is the school doing one large graduation or the smaller cermony for just your major?

My university was scheduled to have it like this: Main ceremony- all majors, all graduates. After the main ceremony, each specific major had its own smaller graduation. The smaller graduation was where you "walked" and got the diploma cover.

However, my major had over 3000 graduates so it was the largest of the "smaller" ceremonies.

I didn't get my actual degree at graduation, just the cover. That didn't come until 6 months later.

 

[TinkerbEllnor]

Congratulations on your accomplishment!!

It's your decision, but if it were me, I would probably skip the ceremony and put all the money I would have spent on travel, hotels, etc into a kickbutt graduation party at home with those close to me. At the party, you could have a symbolic graduation. Have your son present you with your diploma. He could get more out of that than sitting bored to tears in an audience.

 

[jen0610]

My 37 year old baby brother, just had the same decision to make for his graduation back in December. He like you, went back to school to finish a degree that he had started.

He lives in FL, but graduation was up in PA. In order for him to go, he and Lynn would have had to take 4 days off from work, come up with the money to buy plane tickets, for the rental of the cap and gown, car rental, motel, and dining out. He thought about what he wanted to do the first couple of months of his last semester.

In the end, he didn't spend the money to, as he put it, travel to graduate with a bunch of people he did not know, had never met and would never see again. Instead, he threw a big graduation party for family and friends. He preferred to celebrate his accomplishment with people he actually knew and cared about.

 

[kinntj]

I would walk if I were you. You worked so hard for this and thought of quitting a few times, so you earned the right to walk proud across the stage. At least you should do it once in your lifetime.

Congratulations on making it!!!!!

We're here celebrating with you.

 

[Gina]

First off, thank you all SO much for the congrats and happy thoughts!! I really wasn't expecting that, but it really made me feel so happy inside. I feel kinda guilty even making a big deal about this graduation because A.) People graduate every day and B.) I should have finished it the first time, anyway, you know? But as you get older, there are fewer and fewer reasons for real celebrations, so I'm running with it.

I am really liking the big-blowout-here idea more and more. It says there are two graduations that day, one at 10am and one at like 3pm, but which is which is TBA. Because finals don't end until the 10th, it would be near-impossible for me to get there by the evening of the 10th for graduation the next morning. It's really ridiculous they do it that way. Grades aren't even due until the 15th -- what if you didn't actually qualify to graduate?? You'd think they could wait a week.

Anyways, the more I think about it and weigh everything y'all have said, the more comfortable I think I'd be just doing a mock-graduation and party with my family and friends. Then I could spend the money I'd save on many Malibu Coladas in February.

I love the portrait idea, the live streaming idea, and the mock graduation idea. Thank you bunches for those!!!

Gina, I just wanted to say...CONGRATULATIONS!!

Awww, thanks, Smiley!! I've missed talking to you, hun!

 

[Cindy B]

I am really liking the big-blowout-here idea more and more. It says there are two graduations that day, one at 10am and one at like 3pm, but which is which is TBA. Because finals don't end until the 10th, it would be near-impossible for me to get there by the evening of the 10th for graduation the next morning. It's really ridiculous they do it that way. Grades aren't even due until the 15th -- what if you didn't actually qualify to graduate?? You'd think they could wait a week.

At least at my university you could walk in that year if you were within 6 credits of graduation or if you only had to complete student teaching.

I walked in May 2008. I was a December 2008 graduate but I only had to complete student teaching. Student teaching was a supplement to my degrees- I already had the number of credits in hand.

However, some people do have summer courses to complete, but they let them walk in that year since there is only one graduation ceremony per year. If I didn't walk early (last May), I would have to wait until this May to walk, (May 2009 ) even though I am a 2008 graduate. I'm glad I did it this past year because it is the same date as DH's graduation and we would have had a major conflict.

 

[Quiksilvr]

I walked for undergrad and really enjoyed the experience. I walked for grad school and was indifferent to the whole thing. I walked for law school and had a lot of fun because it really capped the entire law school experience, which I wouldn't trade for the world.

The common thread to the walks I enjoyed was that I was in the midst of my best friends (at the time) and that we were all doing this thing together. It was exciting, even though the waits were interminable and the speakers weren't really that great.

If you don't really feel like you have a connection to the others in your class or to the school itself, it might feel anticlimactic to participate. However, you earned the right to walk, and I definitely felt a sense of pride every time I walked across the stage and for every degree I've received. It's a minor rite of passage. I'd say go for it.

Finally, I wouldn't worry about being a nontraditional student. I'm willing to bet that West Texas A&M has a large nontraditional population (more and more colleges do nowadays) and that you will blend right in. Don't worry about what you look like in the gown; there are plenty of young people (myself included) who don't look awesome in those things. It's not an epidemic specific to nontrads.