Graduation

[[AK]Hylander]

Just thought I'd share a little of my day with you guys.

Today was my graduation ceremony for my Masters Degree (MBA) and it turned out to be a great program. My sister and brother-in-law came down from Elmira, NY and attended along with my wife and my father-in-law. It was held inside due to weather concerns - although it never rained, it was hot and humid as hell so it was a good decision to have it in a hall. They really did a nice job with the way they set it up and it was fairly organized except for some family members ignoring requests and instructions about photographs and clogging the isles where we 'paraded' in and causing a log jam.

Our guest speaker (who received an Honorary Degree) was Jim Murray (that name may ring a bell with Squidly and other Philly locale sports fans). Jim was the General Manager of the Philadelphia Eagles when they went to the Super Bowl back in 1981, hired Dick Vermeil, and he was also one of the founders of the Ronald McDonald House program. He was a very eloquent speaker and wasn't too long winded about it, which was nice. The whole commencement program took about 2 hours, but we were there for over 3 as we had an MBA class photo, etc. This was the 'full' graduation, as in it was the undergraduates as well as the graduate program. Unlike my undergrad ceremony, we received our actual diploma's today. When I was an undergrad, we received them in the mail a few weeks after the ceremony. They just handed out papers tied with a ribbon. But today we got a nice folded portfolio with the diploma in it. It's about an 8 X 11, versus my undergrad diplomas which are about 3X the size of this one - which is OK with me because the framing should be cheaper!

My wife made a dinner last night when my sister and brother-in-law came in and then today after the ceremony we had a little grill out in which I'm still digesting and recovering from. (Just a minor set back Stitch!)

As I was telling Palooka on ICQ this evening (before COVAD started having DNS issues and I got disconnected) was that the first few weeks after my last class and not having any graduate work to do was sort of weird and almost a let down, but now that spring/summer is here and the weather is nice, I have alot of stuff to do around the house to keep me busy. It will be the fall and turn back of the time that will start to set in and I won't know what to do with myself, other than gaming of course. My boss is an adjunct instructor at a college in NJ and said I could use him as a reference if I decide to pursue becoming an adjunct faculty member myself. I've been considering the idea of teaching undergraduate classes on a part time basis and have put some feelers out. (You all know we need more conservative instructors in our education system! (Who did you vote for? F!!!! )) Other than my boss I have two of my professors who said they would help out in any way they can as well. I've been waiting for my promotion to Assistant Vice President at work prior to applying formally to any positions (I'm "hopeful" it will happen in June). Some colleges and universities only require a Masters Degree to teach, but I've come across a few that require you to be 2 or more years removed from your degree before you can apply. During my graduate program, I took in classroom instruction, online classes, and distance classes so I'm hoping between that experience and my concentration in E-Commerce, I may be able to teach a distance or online class which would be extremely convenient and interesting. I found certain classes are fine online, but some - say accounting and finance - really should be tought in a classroom atmosphere. It's just too difficult learning that type of thing in online classes and even distance learning.

Sorry for the rant.. it was a fun, fulfilling 2 days - but also extremely tiring. I don't think I'll ever pursue becoming Professor or Doctor Hylander... but one never knows!

[[AK]Bribo]

Congrats Hy!

[[AK]Hylander]

Congrats Hy!

Thanks.

[[AK]Kidd]

Hy, good for you. That takes alot of hard work and especially dedication. you need to take the summer off and have fun. congrats.

[[AK]StitchJones]

Congradulations Dr. Hylander. LOL You've worked hard my friend, now it's time for you to take a well deserved break. Hopefully your ego will remain fed until the fall

[[AK]Rocks]

Congrats on the masters. Good to see someone dedicated to career planning and hard work. (unlike mysefl) Good luck!

[[AK]Devil_Dog]

Congrats Hy!!!
I bet you still can't write your name Haggis!!!

[[AK]The Beast]

A belated congratulations, Hylander. What a great achievement!

[[AK]Hylander]

Thanks Guys!

And this is for Flea Bit DD!

[[AK]Devil_Dog]

ROFL!!!!

[[AK]Choozoo]

congratulations! now i have to get started....