Post Graduate

The graduation has occurred and the ceremony was very classy. We were in an elegant theater in downtown Portland. The processional and recessional were played by a brass quintet. The faculty and presenters were all professional, with an excellent balance of humor and dignity.

The graduates were an interesting mix because it was the nursing school and many people who were earning graduate degrees and even the bachelor degrees had been in the profession working. Some were clearly long-time nurses, and some looked like they'd powered through to this stage in one burst.

Here's the evidence:

Nurses get a Florence Nightingale pin in honor of the First Lady of Nursing. Nurse Treat had her initials engraved on back of her pin. It was cool at the graduation. About eight faculty members came forward and each graduate went up on stage, handed over the name card to be pronounced by the person at the mic. Then the graduate walked over to a faculty person, handed the ribbon to her, and the ribbon was put around the neck of the graduate. It mimicked the hooding ceremony of the master's degree candidates. Nice touch.

So, I'm off to the airport now. I've had a pleasant, relaxed weekend. I slept until my body woke up (without the blaring assistance of an alarm) for three straight days. I feel invigorated and capable of surviving the next three days of madness till school is out!