Well, I've finally made it! It only took me five years! (Plus 8, if you count all those years between high school) I graduated on Sat. May 3rd, and it came just in time to keep me from jumping off a bridge or something! Here is a photo, and please note the bottles in the foreground. Every graduation party should have this as the foreground for pictures. (BTW, that's me in the gown, with my folks, the husband and my angel)
The ceremony was long...at least for me. My high school graduating class consisted of a whole 44 people, so I just wasn't used to a ceremony of this magnitude. (Although, the more people I complain to, the more people tell me that my 2 hour ceremony was nothing, and that they have attended graduation ceremonies that lasted all day and into the night where everyone just slept in their chairs and finished up in the morning. I hope that was an exaggeration.) Anyway, I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Mathematics and minors in Physics and Statistics. I was also awarded the 2008 Outstanding Graduating Student in Mathematics. To accept this award, I attended the Convocation, where I bumped into an old classmate of mine who's husband (also a classmate, who I'm going to call "The Joker") was getting the Outstanding Blah Blah in History award. This was great, as our tiny hometown was well represented at this award ceremony. But you know who I really wish could have been there? My high school Geography teacher. This is a woman who once accused me of cheating, because I was failing her class and at the last minute pulled a 98% final out of my kiester. (Her comment was that she would accuse me of cheating off of my best friends, co-valedictorians and sitting right next to me, except that my score was higher than theirs. It never occurred to her that the reason I was failing was because I didn't turn in any homework, not that I didn't understand the subject.)
This teacher also had run-ins with The Joker while we were in high school. One winter's day we were sitting in the pizza-oven that was our Geography classroom, (the heating/cooling system in that school was ridiculous) our teacher was diligently writing who-knows-what up on the board, droning on and on about India or something. The Joker (who sat behind me) took this opportunity while her back was turned to sneak out the window that was wide open to help alleviate the oppressive heat. He returned seconds later with a gigantic icicle, the size of my leg! (and I'm 5'9") These icicles consistently grew along the gutters of the school, waiting patiently to impale some unsuspecting student who was foolish enough to try to enter or exit the building. The Joker silently placed the icicle next to the teachers desk and returned to his seat as the rest of us struggled to contain our laughter. The teacher reached for something on her desk and was startled by the large shaft of ice leaning against it. The class erupted with hilarity, except The Joker, who was studiously taking notes. She didn't have to wonder who was responsible.
For those reasons, I think she may have enjoyed hearing our college professors go on and on about how studious we both are and how we are such an example to other students. (It was so hard for me to keep a straight face!) The Joker's plan is to be a History teacher. Now if the Mother's Curse ("I hope your kids act just like you do!") works for old teachers as well, then he's got his work cut out for him! (Although, it'll be really hard to top the icicle thing!)
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