OK. It appears that I'm at the end of this stage of my academic endeavor. Today, we had the commencement ceremony for Spring 2008 graduates (me included). Here, as in most universities, commencement is celebrated the day right after the last final exam. But does it make sense to celebrate graduation while almost no grades are reported to the Registrar’s Office? Just being on your last semester wouldn't automatically make you a graduating student. At least, that's what happened to me over my presumably last semester when I was an undergrad student.
I've written a 100+ page thesis for my bachelor's degree. And that with all the troubles I went through. I had a thesis advisor whom I had to dump with much difficulty and fighting (choosing a busy egomaniac PhD candidate in another university as your thesis advisor is not a very good idea). And although the original idea of the thesis was mine, they didn't let me finish the same thesis with my new advisor. I had to adopt a new idea in the same area (my former thesis advisor had tried to depict me in the faculty meeting as incapable of doing a thesis in Artificial Neural Networks and the stubborn guy that I am, I wanted to prove him wrong). I defended my thesis after a 1.5 year crusade and going through all sort of troubles with school administration. That’s another story.
Near the end of my thesis, my mother was diagnosed with cancer and the day right before her operation, one of my professors flunked me in the middle of semester just for not attending his class enough. His class is all about him photocopying everything from his lecture notes on the whiteboard and you're supposed to do the same from the whiteboard to your lecture notes. Just a two-stage photocopying session. Every semester. So, if you endure his class once, you'll go through exactly the same torture in every detail the next time. And I was going to graduate that semester. And I had talked to the professor long before (he had unfairly failed me in the same course over past semester) and had got his permission not to attend his class (he later denied having given me such a permission). The students had nicknamed him Dr Cow for his attitudes.
This combined with my mother’s cancer diagnosis and other problems (financial troubles included) devastated me so much that I failed almost all other courses that semester (even the Microcomputer Basics that anybody would bet at the beginning of semester that I would pass with 20, the maximum grade).
The good point was all the referee (equivalent of committee members here) evaluated my thesis as excellent, 20/20 (and later on, two of them wrote me strong letters of recommendation when I was about to apply to graduate school in 2005). To my disappointment, my former thesis advisor gave my original thesis topic to a poor student (who was desperate to graduate) and the result was dismal. It could have become a great thesis if done properly by a good advisor and a more capable student.
I would say my undergrad years were the worst years of my life (except for some periods brightened by some good professors and the time I spent with my good friends). But at least, I had the freedom to work and make money for my basic needs (we were struggling with financial hardship back then). Probably, my bad memories from college could be one of the reasons that made me hesitant about going back to college again. And over my last conversation with my former thesis advisor (that PhD candidate), he told me in a threatening way: “at some point, you may choose to come to the graduate school and you’ll know then”. Was he so sure that I would choose their university for my graduate study? Or did he believe that he was so almighty to make me troubles even if I ended up in another university? Anyway.
Although not mentioned in this previous post, the first time I felt like “And now, you’re a free man!” was when I graduated from college in 1998. Now, ten years after that graduation, I've almost finished my first stage of graduate study and am about to enter a new phase (PhD) which sounded like a distant dream to me when I was an undergrad student. Thanks be to God.
As the Savage Hall is undergoing construction and renovation, they’ve decided to have the university commencement in the Glass Bowl (our football stadium), rain or shine. Probably, many graduates from last semester are unhappy about their commencement being cancelled for a few inches of snow, although the Savage Hall was available then and a level 2 snow emergency was the reason, as mentioned in this previous post. As it was stormy today, they've even included instructions in the commencement program in case of a tornado. What a resolve!
And to shorten the event (and hence lowering the risk of getting wet in the open), they've decided to have separate convocation ceremonies for each college (with names being read and recognized, diploma cases given, pictures taken and stuff) and then have a condensed commencement for the university. Here is the memorandum for theCollege of Arts
Having attended the non-condensed commencement last spring, I didn’t find it specifically very exciting. Or maybe I’m not very excited about getting an MA in Sociology. Just between us, although I’m happy about finishing this degree as a stepping stone toward my PhD, I still value my Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering more than a Master’s in Sociology. I hope none of my current professors read this! But seriuosly, I'm very grateful to my professors here. Their mentoring and support has been very helpful in my adaptation to a new academic discipline after being away from academia for such a long time.
Although I had brought my Ali lapel pin fromIran
And while I was about to enter the Student Union auditorium along with other graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences, somebody from the Registrar’s Office approached me and told me that I had to have Cap and Gown. And I hadn’t (and presumably should've sat in the back). However, to my surprise, she proposed to get me one. And she did. I put on my Ali lapel pin and walked like other graduates. As the official pictures taken by the university photographers are not ready yet, I put one of my pictures taken in front of the Student Union after the convocation was over:
I've written a 100+ page thesis for my bachelor's degree. And that with all the troubles I went through. I had a thesis advisor whom I had to dump with much difficulty and fighting (choosing a busy egomaniac PhD candidate in another university as your thesis advisor is not a very good idea). And although the original idea of the thesis was mine, they didn't let me finish the same thesis with my new advisor. I had to adopt a new idea in the same area (my former thesis advisor had tried to depict me in the faculty meeting as incapable of doing a thesis in Artificial Neural Networks and the stubborn guy that I am, I wanted to prove him wrong). I defended my thesis after a 1.5 year crusade and going through all sort of troubles with school administration. That’s another story.
Near the end of my thesis, my mother was diagnosed with cancer and the day right before her operation, one of my professors flunked me in the middle of semester just for not attending his class enough. His class is all about him photocopying everything from his lecture notes on the whiteboard and you're supposed to do the same from the whiteboard to your lecture notes. Just a two-stage photocopying session. Every semester. So, if you endure his class once, you'll go through exactly the same torture in every detail the next time. And I was going to graduate that semester. And I had talked to the professor long before (he had unfairly failed me in the same course over past semester) and had got his permission not to attend his class (he later denied having given me such a permission). The students had nicknamed him Dr Cow for his attitudes.
This combined with my mother’s cancer diagnosis and other problems (financial troubles included) devastated me so much that I failed almost all other courses that semester (even the Microcomputer Basics that anybody would bet at the beginning of semester that I would pass with 20, the maximum grade).
The good point was all the referee (equivalent of committee members here) evaluated my thesis as excellent, 20/20 (and later on, two of them wrote me strong letters of recommendation when I was about to apply to graduate school in 2005). To my disappointment, my former thesis advisor gave my original thesis topic to a poor student (who was desperate to graduate) and the result was dismal. It could have become a great thesis if done properly by a good advisor and a more capable student.
I would say my undergrad years were the worst years of my life (except for some periods brightened by some good professors and the time I spent with my good friends). But at least, I had the freedom to work and make money for my basic needs (we were struggling with financial hardship back then). Probably, my bad memories from college could be one of the reasons that made me hesitant about going back to college again. And over my last conversation with my former thesis advisor (that PhD candidate), he told me in a threatening way: “at some point, you may choose to come to the graduate school and you’ll know then”. Was he so sure that I would choose their university for my graduate study? Or did he believe that he was so almighty to make me troubles even if I ended up in another university? Anyway.
Although not mentioned in this previous post, the first time I felt like “And now, you’re a free man!” was when I graduated from college in 1998. Now, ten years after that graduation, I've almost finished my first stage of graduate study and am about to enter a new phase (PhD) which sounded like a distant dream to me when I was an undergrad student. Thanks be to God.
As the Savage Hall is undergoing construction and renovation, they’ve decided to have the university commencement in the Glass Bowl (our football stadium), rain or shine. Probably, many graduates from last semester are unhappy about their commencement being cancelled for a few inches of snow, although the Savage Hall was available then and a level 2 snow emergency was the reason, as mentioned in this previous post. As it was stormy today, they've even included instructions in the commencement program in case of a tornado. What a resolve!
And to shorten the event (and hence lowering the risk of getting wet in the open), they've decided to have separate convocation ceremonies for each college (with names being read and recognized, diploma cases given, pictures taken and stuff) and then have a condensed commencement for the university. Here is the memorandum for the
Having attended the non-condensed commencement last spring, I didn’t find it specifically very exciting. Or maybe I’m not very excited about getting an MA in Sociology. Just between us, although I’m happy about finishing this degree as a stepping stone toward my PhD, I still value my Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering more than a Master’s in Sociology. I hope none of my current professors read this! But seriuosly, I'm very grateful to my professors here. Their mentoring and support has been very helpful in my adaptation to a new academic discipline after being away from academia for such a long time.
Although I had brought my Ali lapel pin from
And while I was about to enter the Student Union auditorium along with other graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences, somebody from the Registrar’s Office approached me and told me that I had to have Cap and Gown. And I hadn’t (and presumably should've sat in the back). However, to my surprise, she proposed to get me one. And she did. I put on my Ali lapel pin and walked like other graduates. As the official pictures taken by the university photographers are not ready yet, I put one of my pictures taken in front of the Student Union after the convocation was over:
From left to right: me, Dr Barbara Chesney (Department of Sociology & Anthropology Chair), Dr Dwight Haase (Sociology) and Dr Willie McKether (Anthropology). The University Hall (where our department is located) could be seen in the background.
One of the several minute details about convocation and commencement is the tassel position. According to theUniversity of Toledo
One of the several minute details about convocation and commencement is the tassel position. According to the
Anyway, tassel to the right or left, as I didn’t feel like attending the university commencement in the open and wind (and probably get wet), I preferred to watch its webcast at the comfort of our department computer lab. And although there was not a tornado(!), it was rather windy and it did rain a little bit. And I called home to share the news with my parents. I ask God to help me with the next stages in my academic endeavor. My academic progress will make them happy and their happiness will make God even happier.
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