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Graduation: did you go to yours


Angalin

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I've been to all mine in some form or another. Went to high school. I went to the big stadium UNC undergrad ceremony (but not the smaller department one where you actually got your diploma). I went to the little department one at Carnegie Mellon for grad school where you actually get the diploma , but not the big tent one with the bagpipes.

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I went to my high school and undergraduate graduation ceremonies, both out of familial duty.

When I found out the graduation for my Masters program was held at Radio City Music Hall, I thought about going just so I could say I'd been on stage there. Then I found out you were pretty much stuck in your seat the entire time, so I skipped it.

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I never attended any graduation ceremony I should have been a part of, beginning with high school. In fact, I've always tried my best to get to the next phase of life before even reaching the point of graduation. So, I say that the value of an education comes from a combination of the experiences you've had while pursuing an education, and the goals that are accomplished after the fact because of those experiences. The ceremony is aptly named, and is nothing more than that.

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Congratulations! and I'm sorry things have been tough. Hope you can relax a bit now and start feeling better.

I went to my graduations but mostly because of a sense of "that's what one does." They were all a while ago and didn't really impact me one way or the other. I'm not a huge fan of ceremonies but family came to all of them so I went too. 

 

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I still regret that I went on my school graduation, especially the prom because I didn't have friends in mu class at that last time so... The ceremony was nice but the party for me was awful :(
But it was totally different at university! The ceremony was fine and we had an amazing party after it, it's still one of my good memories B)

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On 3/10/2017 at 8:18 PM, Whitestripe said:

I've been to all mine in some form or another. Went to high school. I went to the big stadium UNC undergrad ceremony (but not the smaller department one where you actually got your diploma). I went to the little department one at Carnegie Mellon for grad school where you actually get the diploma , but not the big tent one with the bagpipes.

You skipped the bagpipes? But I have a weird fondness for bagpipes, which always make me cry.

On 3/12/2017 at 0:47 AM, Mr. X said:

I went to my high school and undergraduate graduation ceremonies, both out of familial duty.

When I found out the graduation for my Masters program was held at Radio City Music Hall, I thought about going just so I could say I'd been on stage there. Then I found out you were pretty much stuck in your seat the entire time, so I skipped it.

I completely get that - going to say you'd been on stage. Who got to go up front, then?

5 hours ago, Lily Valley said:

No.  I won't walk until I have the PhD.

At one point during this last degree I thought about applying for a doctorate, but funding it would be impossible right now and I don't know if it would add much to my employability. Since I've been here, I met a woman who had a full career as a lawyer then did a doctorate on a medieval Spanish woman who became a saint, so perhaps in a few decades... 

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4 hours ago, Angalin said:

I completely get that - going to say you'd been on stage. Who got to go up front, then?

No idea. Once I found out graduates didn't get to walk, I didn't look any further into it.

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9 hours ago, Angalin said:

At one point during this last degree I thought about applying for a doctorate, but funding it would be impossible right now and I don't know if it would add much to my employability. Since I've been here, I met a woman who had a full career as a lawyer then did a doctorate on a medieval Spanish woman who became a saint, so perhaps in a few decades... 

I have a friend from childhood who was (is?) a successful lawyer and gave it up to become an Episcopal priest. He's been a professor at a number of places here in NY, at Harvard and in Chicago, and has written a number of books now on Queer Theology (which is the area that he tends to teach as well). He seems so happy these days and is doing really well. is that a thing? to give up being a lawyer and do something else later? Maybe not... I know a medical doctor who did something similar.

in other news, I like bagpipes too. Seems like the highlight of many ceremonies.  

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I know quite a number of people (mostly women) who started a PhD in their 40/50s, though generally in the same field. It's like at some point something just starts to mystify or just annoy the hell out of you in professional practice and you're in a place where you have enough confidence to feel that its not you, its them, and then there's no recourse but to go to a PhD to figure it out and get it out of your head.

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