Monday, May 18, 2009

MBA Commencement

It's official - I have my masters degree. :)

I guess I needed to don a cap & gown for one final time so that it would feel official. I finished up my course work 2 weeks ago but, until today, it didn't really feel like I was 'done'.

The ceremony was this morning at 9. We really lucked out on the weather. It was sunny & gorgeous - which is sort of a rarity these days in my neck of the woods. Before I headed over to line up, my parents & I snapped a few pictures.




Dad & I


Mom & I

I lucked out & sat next to a girl that I studied abroad in Lyon with so I had someone to chat with during lulls in the ceremony. The keynote speaker was actually really good - she was one of Time magazine's people of the year in 2002 (I think?). She was one of the whistle-blowers at Enron so gave a great speech about Ethics in the workplace.

After the ceremony, I met up with my parents for some post-commencement photos and was suprised to see my aunt & uncle, Barb & Paul, walking towards me with my parents!!! They totally surprised me - I had no idea they were coming! So we snapped a few more photos before heading off to lunch.




My brother, sister-in-law, their 2 boys, and my cousin Suzanne joined us for lunch. It was nice celebrating with my family - especially my 2 nephews! I tried to get a picture with the 2 of them, but that is a bit of a tall order since they are 1 & 4!



I did manage to get a great picture with Andrew - he's doing a great "ta da" pose with his arms. What can I say - he loves the camera!!


Getting my MBA has been a wonderful challenge. As much as I have complained from time to time, I learned a lot and met a lot of really great people.

But I am definitely happy to close the book on this chapter of my life!!

7 comments:

Amber said...

CONGRATULATIONS, Lisa! That is a huge accomplishment!!! I'm proud of you!

You look beautiful in all your pictures!! I'm so glad the sun came out and was shining for your grad!

Kelli said...

Congrats Lisa. That is definitely a great accomplishment!!!

Lisa-Marie said...

Congratulations! A Masters is no mean feet, to do it when you have a family is V impressive! you must be so proud! x

Marlys said...

I'm speaking for both of us, and we are so proud of your accomplishment and know how hard you worked and the sacrifices you made to get this degree. You also got to do some traveling with the program which was an enhancment for you, too! Yesterday was a culmination of so many things and we were so proud of you! We love you lots! Dad & Mom!

Jess said...

I feel so proud of you (I don't know if it sounds weird that I would be proud of you...but I don't care! I seriously am!!) I hope you gave yourself a little bit of time to relax and enjoy yourself, because you sure do deserve it!!

Anonymous said...

Congrats! Isn't it such a great feeling!?!

I was so ready to be done, I didn't even want to walk. All I care about is getting the piece of paper.

So many people told me that I would regret not going, but the actual ceremony didn't matter to me that much...I'm just glad to say I did it. :)

Looks like you lucked out and got some great weather too...nice!

Meg said...

congrats!! YIPPEE it is over---now mroe time to read, relax and have fun!