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It was a pretty formal ceremony, and they certainly made us feel special and smart. It was held at the SJSU Event Center and was probably the most organized event I've ever been to. My friend/Spanish partner Alix was there being awarded too, but otherwise I only knew two other students. We were allowed to invite two professors, and I heard later that some professors that had been invited by multiple students did not show up. My seat was next to the center aisle, where the robed professors marched down, and the two that I had invited marched next to each other and winked and waved at me as they passed. I almost started crying then because those two have kind of taken the place of my parents in things like this and it meant a LOT to me that they came. My kids were there too, and they each brought a friend who I consider my adopted kids. So I had my little group of four sitting up in the bleachers watching and taking pictures. By the way, Spike can't take a non-blurry picture to save his life, so when I post them, just know he took them, heh. We actually never took one of me, but Alix did so maybe I'll post hers. The orchestra was there playing the processional and then America the Beautiful. Then they introduced the Dean for each college and while each group stood (we all stood in blocks of our own colleges, mine is "Humanities and Arts") they named off the different majors in each college. Then the students from those majors all whooped and hollared. That was basically how they ran us through it, instead of calling each of our names - and honestly, that's the only way to get through things like this. A Silicon Valley inside joke: When they called the School of Engineering to stand up I looked at them all and thought "Congratulations! You are now laid off!" Then the SJSU Outstanding Professor of the year gave a speech. She's a chemistry professor, so first we got a lesson in chemistry and... some kind of alternative fuel that really wasn't a good possibility and... *yawn* and then she told us the importance of graduating from college... or at least of MARRYING someone who graduated college. THE FUCK??? I *think* she was making a joke... but I'm not sure she was... and it still just rang kind of wrong. But then she gave Seven Reasons to stay in school, and those were kind of interesting, and at least focused on how we'll be making a better living and making a difference and being important people in the world... and I was glad the kids were up there listening to this. So then the professors marched back out, and mine waved and smiled at me some more, and then I met the kids so we could go to the courtyard for refreshments. All four kids congratulated me and even seemed happy and excited to have come. "Refreshments" consisted of the greatest amount of Pepperidge Farm assorted cookies I have ever seen. Like, you could have filled multiple barrels full of them. So we grabbed a couple (Buffy and friend grabbed as many as their grubby little fingers could hold) and I found one of my professors and thanked her for coming. She seemed really happy to be there, but then started ranting and raving about perhaps we should all just get MARRIED, to A COLLEGE GRADUATE, instead of GRADUATING OURSELVES, and that the chemistry professor just SET BACK WOMEN'S RIGHTS A HUNDRED YEARS. She was all fired up about it, and I just laughed and said thanks again for coming. OH, before I forget, as soon as I found the kids and we started walking out, Buffy made a point to tell me that her counselor had told her she can still get into a 4-year college if she wants to, she just has to take one extra class and pass all her others. I thought it interesting that she brought this up after the ceremony - I think taking them there did sort of inspire them, and maybe the speeches rang a bell in their dense little heads, or maybe all the different majors just sparked some interest. Who knows and who cares. I think Buffy would do great in a four year college. I know that personally, the students at my school constantly inspire me. It's always jolting to speak to some random "kid" (because they really are just kids) at the coffee shop, and to find out they're majoring in microbiology. Or genetic engineering. Or to find out the kid behind me in Spanish wants to be a doctor and Alix wants to be a psychiatrist. Those kinds of things just kind of seemed like they happened to "other" people when I was young. And yet here these kids are just going to school, majoring in these fields, and in a couple years they're going to be working those fields. I know I grew up maybe at the very end of the period where women either got married or became teachers (that seemed to be the expectations for ME when I was a kid), but I wish I had had more goals and possibilities presented to me and I'm glad that that period is over. I'm glad Buffy has it in her head that she wants to go to a four year college. I think if she can manage to stay out of trouble the next two years (a lot to ask, I know) that she's going to do amazing things when she grows up. So anyway, that was it. We all got blue ribbons with "Deans Scholar" printed on them, and a really nice certificate in a nice folder and we all left feeling very special and smart. And I guess the ceremony did kind of impress upon me how great my accomplishments have been. I've had a really heavy load this semester, and combined with one particular professor who seems to hate us all, I had lost a lot of confidence in my abilities. But having "tour de force" written on one of my essays this week combined with all these award ceremonies, AND the fact that I APPLIED FOR GRADUATION yesterday (!!!!!) has really boosted me up. I take my GRE exam in a couple weeks and apply for grad school May 30. Amazing! Now I have to conquer this cold and get my last papers written or I won't be receiving any awards or diplomas anytime in the future.
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