Sexy, Innocent Child-Woman

The Graduation

Hehe =) Nakapag-martsa na rin ako sa wakas! =) Can't you see I'm all smiles during the ceremony?

So what if I'm not done with my thesis yet? Thank God my university has this policy that allows students to participate in the commencement ceremony even if they're not completely done with their programs, as long as they have one outstanding degree requirement. That's the kind of situation I'm in. I finished all the master's requirements except the thesis in December of 2003, but I got SERIOUSLY delayed with my thesis because of the sensitive nature of my research (about women ex-offenders) and the red tape it involved from the end of Research Services. I didn't get permission to start collecting data for my thesis till October of 2004 and surprise, surprise, I'm still writing my thesis. That's why a huge part of me didn't really feel the spirit of graduation--especially since I was working on my thesis up until I had to leave for the commencement ceremony. Oh well. I'm still thankful I got to participate in the May 2005 ceremony because my close friends in the Sociology Department were there--Grace, Jade, Rita, Meghan...and Johnna in spirit. =)

The ceremony was pretty brief--it lasted for about an hour and a half. I was giggling the whole time because one of the students had the word "masturbation" in their dissertation title and I wondered whether the commentator would use that word when he read people's dissertation titles and abstracts aloud. Sorry, mababaw ang kaligayahan ko. Jade, who was sitting beside me, thought I was nuts.

I couldn't stop smiling when I went up the stage to get my (fake) diploma. Pinaghirapan ko talaga 'yung MA ko (plus the additional coursework I took for the Ph.D.) so even if my thesis is still pending, I felt all my efforts in graduate school were recognized. I was wearing stilettos so you can just imagine the noise I made pagbaba ko ng stage. Jade, who was right in front of me, heard it clearly. *PAK!* THUD! PAK!*

Solo flight

On the downside, I didn't have any visitors for my graduation ceremony. My dad is busy preparing for the bar review. My mom didn't want to make the trip here for my master's graduation kasi busy daw siya sa pag-aasikaso ng boarding house namin. Pupunta na lang daw silang lahat 'pag nakuha ko na 'yung Ph.D. ko. Whatever. Initially, the agreement was for us to go on a trip to Rome in lieu of my participation of the ceremony, but she backed out because of the boarders. Part of me doesn't want to believe her anymore whenever she makes plans and/or promises to come here because most of the time, nauudlot lang. I've learned that it's best to believe her when she has a definite itinerary. Otherwise, nasasaktan lang ako. (Just because I seem easygoing and flexible on the outside and I don't demand anything much doesn't mean I don't get hurt.)

Since my graduation fell on a Thursday afternoon, I didn't expect my auntie and uncle to be able to make it because of their work schedule. (NOTE: However, I would find out two days later that my auntie could have attended it after all, if we had coordinated schedules properly. Nakipagpalit pala siya ng shift sa hospital, e hindi niya naman sinabi sa akin. Hello?! How the hell was I supposed to know?! I was CRAZY BUSY writing my thesis until the last minute. And she assumed I was busy with "finals" so she figured she wouldn't call me kasi ayoko daw "makipagdaldalan" sa kanya 'pag busy ako. Correction: I just don't appreciate her dishing out gossip or bitching about whoever at naiirita rin ako sa kakulitan niya.)

I also didn't bother inviting any of my nun-friends (my only friends in Chicago, besides my roommate, ever since Johnna left for Taiwan). Ewan ko, tinopak lang talaga ako. Sr. Dinah is on retreat, anyway, so she wouldn't have been able to attend my graduation. And since I've been so busy with my thesis, I kept forgetting to contact the nuns. By the time I remembered it, it was too late and I felt shy about inviting them on short notice (NOTE: In retrospect, I should have at least invited them. I found out Sr. Rose Therese would have wanted to attend it, and she even wondered if I did attend my graduation. And Sr. Mary Helen would later comment that I "graduated in secret," hinting that I should have invited them. Oops.)

My roommate had to work that day, so she couldn't commit, either. She did attend the latter part of the ceremony, but she went home early--and surprised me with a bottle of Kahlua when I got home.

I ended up going out to dinner with Jade, her boyfriend, and her friends from Taiwan after our graduation. Who else could I hang out with? Hehe, loser ba? And when I got home, I worked on my thesis.

Basta, as I said, tinopak lang talaga ako n'ung grad ko. I felt it was pointless to invite anyone else if my family wouldn't be there anyway because the presence of my relatives and friends wouldn't make up for my family's absence. So when I found out that my relatives and friends here had other commitments and concerns, I didn't take it against them. I was also too stressed out to care.

Anyway, that's how my master's graduation went--pretty uneventful, to say the least. After seeing Ph.D. candidates get hooded, I'm more determined to finish my Ph.D. more than ever, just so I can wear the cool purple robe and get hooded. Hehe =) I hope my Ph.D. graduation will be more meaningful. This time, I'll invite more people.

found herself @ 9:06 PM