**Just a warning. This is a very long post, so if you just want to see the pictures scroll down.
The day finally came that I graduated from ASU!! I know what you're all thinking, after going to school for 10 1/2 years I must have received my doctorate, but no. Masters? Nope. I received my Bachelors of Science in Accounting. Most of you are probably wondering why it took me so long to get through what most people do in 4 years. That is a long story, but here's the shortened version: moved to Arizona in 2003; began working full-time; got married in 2006; had Morgan in 2008; began working part-time; had Ethan in 2010.
Yes, it took me much longer than the normal 4 years, but maybe that was just to help me appreciate my education more. I found it very sad to see how many students in my class were just happy to pass a class. I did not graduate with a 4.0. I wish I had, but there were those classes that I struggled with. My hope is that I can teach my children how important an education is. The goal is not to just pass, but to learn and to really understand each class even if it is a subject you are not interested in.
*The next part is really long and two stories I wanted to write down about school because I didn't want to forget about them. So if you want to skip the next two paragraphs you can.
As I look back I was trying to think of my proudest moment in school. It was probably when I received an A in Intermediate Microeconomics. I took the class because I needed an elective and with only taking two classes a semester I needed two classes that were back to back. I figured microeconomics must be easier than macroeconomics. The first day of class I was already worried. I took the class last Spring (my first semester back after having Ethan), and my teacher talked about how difficult the class was. But there was no turning back for me. I couldn't drop and add another class. I just told Dustin that I really need help because this class would not be easy at all. I found out early that my teacher was so willing to help students. I can't even count how many times I was in his office with help. After my first exam, I was just praying I had passed. The whole test seemed foreign to me. I ended up with a 79. I was honestly so excited! The next exam I felt much better about and ended up with a 93. I was excited because I thought that just maybe I could pull off an A. The last exam was bad. I wasn't even able to finish it. I was so worried that I would fail the exam and then not even pass the test. I ended up with a 98! Obviously he does curve the exams and I did get extra points for doing the homework assignments he gives. I honestly was so excited to pass the class. I honestly found it very interesting. But not interesting enough to change my major to Economics.
A funny story, which actually was not funny at all at the time, was finding out my score to my first auditing test. This was this last semester, so I was determined to get a 4.0 even more so than normal because it was my last semester. I wanted to end it strong. My first test for both classes was on the same day. That has never happened to me before. I was nervous for both because I didn't get as much studying done as I wanted to. Coming out of my auditing test I felt as if I got a B. I knew I had done well on the short answers, but I didn't feel as confident in the multiple choice. I get the e-mail the night before our class that our grades have been posted. I look online and I got a 67! I have never failed a test before now. I'll be honest with you, I started bawling. In my class I sat right in front of my teacher's desk. The next day when he came in he looked at me and my friend and said he had the exam's right there. I asked him if we could just skip going over them. He asked me why and I told him I did horrible and didn't want to see it. He said that maybe I just had high standards and to me a B was horrible, and that he was sure I did well. I told him that I hadn't and I wished that I did have a B. At the end of class, he passed back the tests and put them in front of us upside down. It took me probably a minute to decide that I would look at the test. I flipped it over and looked at my score. Sure enough, 67. I then started going through it. I was confused as to how I got such a low score when I didn't miss that many questions. I look back at my score. It showed 64 for multiple choice and 23 for short answer. He had done the math wrong. I was so excited! I hadn't failed!! I think that everyone in my class heard my huge sigh of relief and letting Dr. Lowe know that he had added wrong. After that it made sense as to why he was so confused that I thought I had done so horrible. After that, with our next two tests he said he made sure to double-check his math on my score.
Back to graduation. Graduation was on Friday, December 16th at the Wells Fargo Arena. It wasn't until 4:00 and was an hour and a half, so I wasn't sure how excited the kids would be about pictures afterwards, so I thought it best to do our family picture before hand. I'm glad I did because there were so many people taking pictures in front of this gate afterwards.
I wanted to put an arrow in the picture to show you where I am, but I have no clue how to do that so you'll just have to guess. I don't think it's very hard though. Funny story about the girl just to the right of me. As soon as I sat down I smelt alcohol. And it was strong. I honestly didn't think anyone would show up to graduation drunk, but then again who knows. The girl at my right was very chatty and from talking we actually found out we had auditing together. She started joking around about going to the bar with her cap and gown to pick up on guys. I mentioned something about someone going to the bar before graduation and getting drunk. She laughed and said she did have two beers before coming. Now the smell made sense. :)
Our speaker was William A. Franke. I actually enjoyed his speech. The thing that stuck with me most was how he mentioned that young people today don't know anything about the rest of the world. He gave an example of how he was in London with a 22 yr old intern, and had mentioned that they were in front of a symbol (that may not be the exact wording, but I don't remember it now). The intern looked up and asked what was so special about a big clock. I was really shocked that he wouldn't know Big Ben. Even before going to London I knew about Big Ben. It made me realize that I need to make sure that I know what is going on in the world.
My name!! Dustin didn't take a picture of me shaking hands with the Assistant Dean because the WP Carey school gives each graduate one for free. But here's my name. :)
This picture is just a fluke. I was looking for my family and apparently smiled and looked at Dustin just as he was taking my picture. FYI, the girl just behind me in the dark hair, who is touching her hat is the one who had the two beers before graduation.
My parents
My sister Emily and brother Jared, and of course Morgan
My sweetheart
Aunt Kathy (who is the reason I moved down here)
Everyone (except Dustin of course) who came to the graduation. Even Bentley is in the picture you just can't see him because he is sleeping in his stroller. Emily's husband Wagner was also here, but he woke up that morning with that horrible 24 hr bug that was going around.
Thank you to all my friends and family who helped me get through these last 10 1/2 years. A special thank you to my sweet, sweet husband who put up with more than he should have had to.
GO ASU!!
After opening presents and taking a shower, Morgan sat in the rocking chair with her princess jammies, watch, and purple blanket to watch Lion King. Ethan, he took a nap.
