After two long, treacherous years of reading, writing, studying, teaching (and crying), I’m graduating with my Master’s degree in developmental research psychology!! The program seemed to fly by, even though at times I felt like I was going to completely lose it and pull my hair out (hence the crying). I remember my first semester when I was shocked to learn that we would be conducting our own mini-research projects and writing up 20+ page research papers on a weekly basis. And that wasn’t my only class! I also had a statistics course to keep up with, I was a lab assistant at the time, and I didn’t exactly have the luxury to not work while in school. Definitely not a fun semester. The following semesters were not much of an improvement, but I sure learned how to manage my time! I made some great friends along the way, too.
So now that I’ve accomplished this grand feat, how does my university acknowledge my hard work? By throwing a liberal arts department-wide graduation ceremony that doesn’t even mention their graduate students of course! I was shocked too. Needless to say, I opted not to spend a bunch of money on useless announcements, a cap, gown, tassel and portraits when my name wouldn’t even be mentioned at the ceremony- that’s right- they don’t even mention your name or include your information in the program. LAME!!
However, I did learn that the psychology department individually hosts their own festivities for graduate students in place of or in addition to the university’s ridiculous, impersonal ceremony. Each year, they charter a Hornblower bay cruise for psychology faculty and graduating students. Better than nothing! So instead of a bright purple cap and gown, I went to Macy’s and bought a nice black dress (now that I think about it, an intimate boat cruise seemed more fitting for the occasion anyway).
I had never been on a bay cruise before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Unfortunately, I was having a difficult day that day and was quite irritated, due to my botched manicure and pedicure earlier that afternoon, hair that just wasn’t cooperating, and shoes that were killing my feet. Plus, other students invited along their whole families, so I felt a little out of place. I did have my lovely husband with me, so at least there was one person there to support me and cheer me on (he’s the one who has been putting up with me and my craziness for these last few years anyway!). Onboard, we mingled with friends and faculty and watched as each of us was called up to the stage and congratulated by the head of our department (they gave us an alumni pin, woo-hoo…). Then we waited in line at the dinner buffet and took some pictures. Overall, it was a decent time. In the end, all I’m really concerned about is that handsomely framed degree that shall be hung right next to my Berkeley degree, on the wall in my office. :)
Now for the catch- I’ve been "conditionally" graduated, meaning that I have to complete the rest of my thesis during the summer, since data collection took so long. But now that my classes and teaching requirements are complete, I can spend the next two months focusing exclusively on analyzing my data and writing my final thesis document. So hold tight for the real graduation party (TBA sometime in August)!
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