To-Do...Check

Today, I graduated. I now have a Master's degree. And, I gotta tell ya (excuse my slang), it feels really good. I'm proud of myself. I am the first woman in my immediate family to receive a Master's degree--not because the other women in my family couldn't get one, just because their life took a different course. And I feel like this is me doing something because I chose to do it, rather than me following in footsteps (Dear women in my family: You have left me excellent footsteps to follow in, and I am grateful). I am also proud, because I have set 5 major goals for my life, things I want to accomplish, and this is the first one I get to cross of the list. It is seriously exciting.

I have really cherished this experience. There was a pretty long gap between my undergraduate and graduate education, and while I loved my undergraduate experience, I treasure this one. I feel like I have grown so much as a person, and really become something. I can't say I feel like I know how to deal with everything in life, but I do feel like I am capable. I am intelligent. I never would have seen myself as who I am, and you know what? I like myself. I really do.

I also treasure the people I have met here. I am going to miss our little graduate program community. I know we are all going to go different directions, but I plan to keep in touch with them and I am glad we will still be able to interact professionally, because it's great to have your friends as your colleagues (and vice versa). So, congratulations to all of them, too, because they have done a great thing.

I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had. I don't know what the future will bring--right now it is pretty uncertain, but I this has been a wonderful adventure and I hope the next one is just as good.