A part of me wanted to pinch myself to make sure it was for real, that I was really getting measured and will be soon ordering a full set of graduation regalia, like the illustration above. The price is exorbitant and absurd, and my humongous land-grant state university charges more for its regalia than Harvard, which was founded in the 17th century! Unbelievable.When it's all said and done, the cost of registering for 3 credit hours in spring quarter so I can defend my dissertation for 2 hours one day in June, and the robe, hood and tam for graduation in August, will equal a king's ransom. But at my small college on the hill (and at the college where my friend is going to teach) they have about four or five academic processions a year. The cost of renting regalia for a few of those would eventually equal or exceed the price of buying the get up, so buy it I will.
Right now, I just registered for those 3 credit hours that cost, per credit, about as much as an ounce of gold, or of a single blue diamond (at least that's what it feels like!). I received confirmation that I was registered, so it's now do or die. Of course, I could get my tuition paid for if I worked the entire summer, but I'd like to have at least July and August off after completing my Ph.D. (and have a summer off for the first time since 2001), so we will dig deep into our pockets and make the university a little richer.
Personally, my biggest fear is that something outside of my control will go wrong and I won't be able to meet my absolute deadline of June 13. I'm scheduled to defend June 10 so I have just enough wiggle room (a few days), if some minor change is needed at the last minute. If I miss that June 13th deadline, though, I will have to dish out my weight in gold again and register for the summer and push everything back to who knows when. But while I'll develop a Plan B (it's always good to have a Plan B and Plan C, if you can), I won't think about it much because I don't like to think about that possibility.
Getting measured for the regalia and registering for the upcoming quarter are two milestones that signal clearly I'm on the straight road toward completion. My advisor is making noises about liking the last revised chapter and now it's all up to this last chapter I have begun working on. I'm in the hardest part of the process, though, which is the reading and researching part. It's the part I like least since I much prefer sitting in front of this computer for hours to type out my ideas. But it's the most important part of the process so I will soldier on, as I always do.
If all goes as planned, I will defend on June 10, no changes will be needed and the dissertation will be wrapped in a bow and turned in to the Graduate School on June 13. I will graduate and be hooded in August, and this six-year-long chapter of my life, including the master's and the Ph.D., will finally come to a much-anticipated close. Que Dios así lo quiera.
3 comments:
And then? And then you will be Dr. G. Huzzah.
Congratulations so, so much.
When I got measured for my robes, I had the measurements done at the local tailor; this was in Rochester. He looked at me when I asked him to measure me, and he said, "What are you going to wear under these, a size 0?" That was a weird, dark moment.
You and I will match, almost!
Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah. I say again: huzzah.
¡Claro que lo vas a lograr!! Tenemos un chorro de ángeles velando porque así sea..
How exciting!!!! I remember feeling like a child swimming inside that gloriously regal robe. In my picture, it looks like a tiny head atop a humongous scarlet-and-gray mattress.
I'm so proud of you! :)
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