Graduation

In our work’s weekly newsletter there was a short note congratulating Julie, one of the team, as she was graduating with her Masters (if she had been back home) I had completely forgotten that I too was suppose to graduate last week. My certificate had arrived in a folded envelope the week before I left NZ and so it some respects it was history, even though study has been a large part of my life since the mid 90s. With three diplomas and two degrees under my belt I was thinking that I probably had a few letters after my name and wondered how much of it was helping me with my current role. You can see that my spelling and grammar are still shot, so some things have not changed at all. Anyway I gave her a call to congratulate her on her success. We decided to share research stories over a curry as a form of graduation. Given that I have always elected to receive my qualifications in absentia it turned out to be a neat way to graduate. I was really pleased I made an effort as it is a milestone in my life. Problem was I couldn’t find a gown and hat. While I do have a thobe and yashmagh it wasn’t quite the appropriate attire for the occasion. If I think back to my graduation of ’86 it was a green shirt and a pencil thin black leather tie (think Miami Vice) with boffy centre parted hair and my BMI was in the low 20s. In '08 it was barker denims, thai cotton tee and hush puppies sandals with grey, receding hair and I’m not even going to think about the BMI. My times have changed. I think I am over study and need to eat more salad.