The biggest surprise was when I learned that I would be honored as the Outstanding Masters Student by my department for this year. I didn't even realize we had such an award! It is awarded by nomination, so it is nice to know that my peers at work wanted to recognize my efforts these past few years (especially since it meant that sometimes their IT requests were a little delayed! :-) Friday afternoon was the Honors Convocation where the award was presented.
Then it was time for the Saturday morning graduation. Luckily for us, this year UAB split the ceremony into two sessions, so that each one wouldn't be so long. Nevertheless, Bartow Arena was almost full. Some families brought 20 or more people, and had carefully practiced synchronized cheering routines!
After graduation, the department had a small reception for its graduates. Everyone got a chance to meet and chat with the faculty.
After that, we went back to the house where there were more surprises for me! My mom and Sally had prepared another reception just for us, and surprised me with some really tasty champagne.
Loren and Sally also prepared a very funny viral video for me! It was from Disney and it was a long news clip about how Disney had changed the Magic Kingdom to celebrate my graduation! If you know how we feel about Disney, you know that was a really fun surprise! You can watch it here (link no longer active as of Jan 2010).
I am very, VERY happy to have graduated and proud of myself for making it this far, especially in the last year with everything else that has been happening. I couldn't have done it without great support and understanding from everyone at work, but most especially the patience and support (and home-cooked meals on busy weeknights!) from all of my family and friends who encouraged me along the way!
And now... "no more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks!" :-) I am just going to enjoy not being in the classroom for a while!
No comments:
Post a Comment