Jaye (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jayes_musings) wrote2007-05-29 04:13 pm
jayes_musings) wrote2007-05-29 04:13 pm
Graduations are like buses
Well, Sunday was my graduation from the University of Maryland University College. It's a unique university in that it caters especially towards service members, family members, and DoD civilians all over the world, and so it's not a traditional college as such.
The European Division commencement was held in Heidelberg Germany, at the army base just outside the city. There had been planned for the day before a river cruise on the Neckar river, but due to security concerns it was cancelled. In that event and to save money, we (hubby, my mum, youngest son, and I) didn't go down on Saturday as we'd first planned and so, sadly, missed out on meeting up with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
franzi1981.
As it was, we drove down on Sunday morning, about 2.5 hours and got there around 10:30. It was straight to check-in and robing, and then I had my official photo taken. Then it left about an hour and a half before the graduates needed to begin lining-up, so we had lunch at Burger King...not my choice, but it was just down the street and we weren't going drive around and search for somewhere decent, of which on an army base, might not exist.
We graduates had to arrive to line up at 12:30 for the 2:00 ceremony...and it took that long, even if there weren't that many graduates as compared to major schools in the US. So we all stood, according to our degrees -- there were a mix of AAs, BAs, BSs, and MAs -- in a tent with the weather threatening to pour down at any moment while they got us all sorted out into alphabetical order. And the Assistant Dean went through and checked that he could pronounce all the names...which in my case, with a difficult surname, I was grateful for. (He still got it wrong, but less wrong than most people.) Then we filed into the hall, sat through the speeches and commencement address...all of which sounded more like an advertisement for UMUC than anything for the students. Then it was up on stage, receive the fake diploma and off. As we filed back out of the hall, the faculty lined the aisle. One stepped out in front of me, gave me a hug and said, "Well done, [Jaye]." As the vast majority of my classes were online, I have no idea who he was! But he had clearly recognized my name from a class. Actually, I think it might have been my Brit Lit professor, as I had him for a couple of classes, but otherwise. *g*
Then it was home, and dinner at the local...and our favourite Greek restaurant!
I've never been to a graduation before, neither high school nor college, so it was a very different experience to see, and be a part of, one. All this time without one, and I've got two more in the next two weeks.
The European Division commencement was held in Heidelberg Germany, at the army base just outside the city. There had been planned for the day before a river cruise on the Neckar river, but due to security concerns it was cancelled. In that event and to save money, we (hubby, my mum, youngest son, and I) didn't go down on Saturday as we'd first planned and so, sadly, missed out on meeting up with
franzi1981.As it was, we drove down on Sunday morning, about 2.5 hours and got there around 10:30. It was straight to check-in and robing, and then I had my official photo taken. Then it left about an hour and a half before the graduates needed to begin lining-up, so we had lunch at Burger King...not my choice, but it was just down the street and we weren't going drive around and search for somewhere decent, of which on an army base, might not exist.
We graduates had to arrive to line up at 12:30 for the 2:00 ceremony...and it took that long, even if there weren't that many graduates as compared to major schools in the US. So we all stood, according to our degrees -- there were a mix of AAs, BAs, BSs, and MAs -- in a tent with the weather threatening to pour down at any moment while they got us all sorted out into alphabetical order. And the Assistant Dean went through and checked that he could pronounce all the names...which in my case, with a difficult surname, I was grateful for. (He still got it wrong, but less wrong than most people.) Then we filed into the hall, sat through the speeches and commencement address...all of which sounded more like an advertisement for UMUC than anything for the students. Then it was up on stage, receive the fake diploma and off. As we filed back out of the hall, the faculty lined the aisle. One stepped out in front of me, gave me a hug and said, "Well done, [Jaye]." As the vast majority of my classes were online, I have no idea who he was! But he had clearly recognized my name from a class. Actually, I think it might have been my Brit Lit professor, as I had him for a couple of classes, but otherwise. *g*
Then it was home, and dinner at the local...and our favourite Greek restaurant!
I've never been to a graduation before, neither high school nor college, so it was a very different experience to see, and be a part of, one. All this time without one, and I've got two more in the next two weeks.
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(by then I'll be pierced, too ;) Not that you'd want to see it, but you know :D)
PS: You look pretty!
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Quite...but you can tell me all about it. *g*
Thanks, it was the best of all the photos hubby took.
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Awh. You look great in your cap and gown.
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Is that a giraffe licking a squirrel?
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Why yes, it is. And not just any squirrel... a red squirrel! I love them.
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