Grad School Graduation, May 2018

Our older daughter finished her Masters of Arts in Management degree earlier this month and we were pleased as punch to watch her graduate at the hooding ceremony on May 20. I'm not usually the sentimental sort, but as she started towards us in the processional I got all quivery chinned and weepy.

This smart and beautiful young woman is the baby who was found to have a tumor at 17 weeks gestation during a routine ultrasound to date my pregnancy. I was told by the specialists we visited that she could die at any time while I was carrying her, with no warning, and there was nothing to be done but wait and watch. She made it to an induced delivery, born three weeks early, and had surgery when she was 36 hours old. Due to this tumor, she has dealt with a chronic medical condition her entire life. Lots of extra doctor's appointments, procedures and another surgery in her freshman year of high school. And yet there she was, walking down the aisle headed towards her masters degree and I was so proud of her. Not just for furthering her education so successfully, but rather for persevering all these years. For staying focused and strong. For remembering to pray and depending upon God to show her the way. For being committed to her studies and doing her very best. For not using her medical history as a crutch or resorting to "Life isn't fair!" We can't wait to see what she accomplishes next as she begins her second masters program next week in accounting. 

Above is the grad student's roomie, Jill. I had fun documenting the taking of a group picture for all of the students in her masters program.

The commencement address was given by Carla A. Harris (below) and she kicked it off with, "God is good all the time; all the time, God is good." She had a great message for the graduates and was an excellent speaker. When I looked up her bio today, which is really impressive, I discovered she grew up in Port Arthur, Texas. She's a born and raised Golden Triangle girl just like me!

The hooding... our grad student, her roommate Jill and Yoyo, her friend from China who spent ten days with us over the semester break in January.

Girl got graduated!

Here she is with her daddy after the ceremony, standing on the "back porch" of the business building for me to snap a quick pic.

No post about grad school would be complete without including Ivey, her roommate Jill's mentally challenged cat. We were introduced to Ivey long distance via Snap Chat and she became a four legged honorary member of the family.

One last thing I have to mention are the reserved parking spots at the business school building... on electronic signs. How very 21st century of them.