Graduation Day: One Week From Today

AS I TYPE at 9:27 a.m., it occurs to me that on this day, at this time next week, my classmates and I will be preparing to walk across the stage to get our diplomas.

After that, we will go our separate ways--some of us may celebrate together--but for the most part, we will head off with our families and friends to eat, drink and make merry.

It's heady stuff, these endings and beginnings. I ticked off my assignments, papers, presentations, and exams last week, knowing each one signified the end of this adventure. It was not lost on me that as much as I stressed over the workload, I had also taken a great deal of comfort in the academia track I was on.

It's over. No more pencils, no more books ... you know the rhyme. I am relieved; I am ecstatic; I am filled with gratitude; and I am sad.

As I walk through the next days preparing the house for guests and planning for graduation day, I will allow myself to take it all in: the joy, the light, the love, and the change.

~Ms. T. J.

73 days

IN A MERE 73 DAYS, my classmates and I will don our caps and gowns and hoods (and cords and stoles and medallions) to take the long-awaited, oft-dreamt of walk across the stage. Our names will be spoken and we will be handed our diplomas. We will be cheered by family members and friends. We will probably shed a few tears. (I am hoping I don't make sobbing noises.)

As I study for my last midterms and write one of my last major papers, I am pondering what life will be like without all these demands. For two and a half years my life has been structured to accommodate advanced academia and all that goes with getting a Master's degree (politics, personalities, perseverance, patience, and pandemonium).

I have loved it and hated it; endured it and cherished it. I have felt cared for (loved even, by some of my classmates) and I have felt like the Other. I have fit in and felt left out. I have been a joiner and opted out. I have loved back and practiced tolerance and acceptance when I couldn't. I have prayed for people and cursed situations. I have suffered from the isolation that serious students experience and I have felt surrounded and supported by family and friends.

I can't imagine not being in school and yet I can't fathom doing it one more day than I am required.

I am ready.

~Ms. T. J.

Winding down

I'M SURE MOST OF YOU are winding down for the fall semester. That's not to say we don't have a lot of work to do before it's all over. But there's something about nearing the end of a semester that brings relief -- no matter how fleeting.

It's hard to believe that after this one, I will only have one more semester to go before graduation. And then again, it can't come too soon! I have to admit that I will miss it when it's over. I won't miss the unforgiving deadlines, or the class lectures that I thought would never end (you know what I am talking about!)

What will I miss? Laughing with my cohort, packing my book bag, sitting among smart people (for the most part), and working really hard on something and being rewarded for it with a great mark.

I guess I should come back to the moment and do the next right thing. It's not over yet!

So, what will you miss when it's all over but for the shouting (and tossing of your graduation cap)?

~Ms. T. J.