Going to school online, means you don't get the camaraderie that you do in brick and mortar schools. You don't talk to other students that often except for once, every 5 weeks when you are thrown into a group project with people you don't know, who you depend on for your grade, because its a GROUP. This is a scary thing for a perfectionist like me, that hates depending on anyone, especially for her grades. Especially this past week, when I got to write the Group paper ALL BY MY SELF because my group couldn't get their act together. Ahem.
Anyway, My school has several brick and mortar campuses, the main one being in Chicago, Illinois. Before this year, they only offered virtual graduations. You would email a special invitation to your family, and they would sit in front of the computer screen, and listen to a commencement speech from people like George Stephonopolis. Then you would hear pomp and circumstance, and a rolling list of names of everyone that graduated would slide slowly up the screen. Eventually your name would be shown, and YAY... that would be it. It never really felt like a big deal. AT. ALL.
Recently my university started doing real graduations, where the virtual school classes would be invited to go through graduation festivities in Chicago on the pier.How cool is that?? Of course, even though I graduate next month, my "real graduation in Chicago" won't be until Spring of 2010. Hmph. But that does mean that I will be attending WITH my family, and a babe in arms! :)
My husband recently reminded me that what I have been doing is no walk in the park. That he has witnessed how difficult and challenging this whole school thing was for me. That I should be celebrated. That he wants to throw a party for me. For me!
The last time I was thrown a graduation party for my bachelor's, my girlfriends back home surprised me with a kickass party that I will never forget. I was bummed that day. I realized that to my family, my graduation from a virtual school apparently didn't mean anything to them. My sisters didn't care, my parents didn't care, my then husband didn't care, his family didn't care. No acknowledgment whatsoever from any of them, except for "good job." Ok, Now let me add that I am not an attention whore (mostly), but my ego was bruised. I worked my ass off. I remember coming home after my surprise party that my friends threw me and I had a big box of goodies in the back of my minivan. My then husband wandered out and asked "Whats with all the stuff in the box?" I replied "My friends threw me a surprise party!" He says "For what?" I remember the tears of frustration welling up in my eyes. "For my Effing Graduation". He replies "huh." And people wonder why he frustrated the hell out of me.
Fast forward 5 years and I am graduating again. I guess I took the idea from my family not thinking that my efforts were amounting to anything, or that it wasn't a big deal to heart, because I haven't been excited about the actual graduation to anyone, except you, my dear readers. So when My beloved hubby announces he wants to throw me a party, I'm all sarcastically "Huh?? Why??" And he's all "Because you worked your ass off and this is a HUGE deal! Stop downplaying it. Lose your frumpy attitude.Now.". See why I love him?
So yeah. I am getting a Master's Degree. Who cares that I am unemployed, or have to pay back my student loans which amount to forever in debt, in 7 months from now? Awesome.
So, For those of you friends in the Burgh that wanna come and have celebration drinks, and blow in a kazoo, come to my house. It will be fun. Because Hubby says to stop downplaying it and lose the frumpy attitude. That's why.
No comments:
Post a Comment