On Saturday May 5th, I attended my graduation ceremony at the University of Wyoming. We drove through Laramie the night before the big day to pick up my ceremony gear, and I nearly died when I read the instructions for the proper wearing of the academic hood.
Who writes this stuff? Seriously I about died laughing...especially the part, "you'll want to admire your distinguished and refined look..." Too bad that the hood, although legitimately earned, was only a rental and had to be returned right after the ceremony. Oh well, I felt like I sported the, "prestigious look" pretty well, if only for a few hours!
Here's a few photos chronicling this whirlwind of a day...
A quick snapshot of my favorite professor and mentor, Steve Aagard, as I greeted the faculty after receiving my diploma (i.e. empty diploma cover...I am still waiting for the official piece of paper to come in the mail!).
My dad greeted me on the floor as I came off the stage. I couldn't see him at first, but the cowboy hat soon gave him away. He is the truest fake cowboy one has ever met. I appreciated his enthusiasm for the cowboy mascot!
After it was all over, and I finished taking pictures with my friends and professors, I found my kids rolling around in the dirt on the ground. So I joined them for a minute!
I don't know what to day about this picture other than, it was supposed to be of me and my mom... Caleb, apparently really missed me for the 1.5 hours I was not by his side, so he was going now where. Plus, he thought that he had every right to open and close the diploma cover on Cali's head. Finally, a picture wouldn't be a picture without Cali...So you'll have to pretend that this is a lovely picture of me and my mom.
My parents are a great support to me. I know at times they thought I was crazy (well, many times I'm sure), but they supported me through this wild adventure. Plus, if your dad shows up to a cowboy graduation in a cowboy hat, you have to give him props!
We attempted several of these pictures. We both graduated with our bachelor's degrees exactly 10 years earlier, so I wanted to get a few for comparison sake...this is the best we could do.
Christian's parents and his little brother, Dustin made the treck eastward to join us too.
Ahhhh, that's a better one. I promised Christian that I would pay him back someday for all the tuition money and the ridiculous stress, and the late nights that turned into mornings, but he declined my offer; saying that I was payment enough. I am pretty awesome, but that really touched my heart.
We also tried to get a family photo. Well, you can see how well that worked out. However, they are not unlike many of our other family photos, so I guess we'll just stick with the traditional chaos.
I really wanted the kids to be apart of this day, I thought that it was important that they see the graduation ceremony. When I asked Cali how she liked it she said it was hot. When I asked Carter, he said it was long. When I asked Caleb, well, he was already playing in the dirt.
This day was made possible by the efforts of so many people. There is no way that I could have completed this without a huge support system and safety net. My deepest thanks to:
My husband and kids, they sacrificed a lot for me to do this.
My parents and siblings, especially my sister for the unending advice I sought from her.
My wonderful babysitters, I could never have done this without your loving care for my kids.
The people I work with, thank you for letting me do several case studies about you and your jobs.
My friends, who always acted interested in my endeavor and brought me dinner when I was on the verge.
My advisors, professors, and mentors, thank you for the encouragement to see this thing through to the end.
My previous employers, thank you for the letters of recommendation and experience to get here in the first place.
