Today I pulled the trigger and purchased a bunch of plane tickets now that it looks like it is pretty much a done deal for me to get that elusive three letter degree.
My advisor has given her approval for my statistical analyses, which for me means I have the green light to expect things to go fairly smoothly at my defense. There may be some suprises from my other committee members but I have at least one who is a definite cheerleader and another who prefers to hang in the background. It's the other two who could create trouble, but that's what revisions are for, and I am assured that there is almost no chance that they will not pass me at this point. They want me out of there just as much as I do.
I spent the afternoon hashing out the discussion of some of results. It was actually fun. I made a lot of progress once I realized that I could use the theory that one of my committee members is known for to explain it.
After that, I pulled the triger and got the tickets. Then I started researching the regalia...
$280 bucks to have a cap, gown, and hood to keep. Highway robbery!
Part of me says this is a small price to pay for the only tangible evidence of the degree aside from the paper it will be printed on. And, afterall, they paid me to get the degree. Sure, I had to spend years in indentured servitude in exchange, but I thought teaching was highly rewarding. I have mostly forgotten the first couple of years spent in true serfdom. I recall Freud had something to say about the utility of repression...
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2 comments:
At UMD you can rent caps, gowns and hoods by the piece...the same might be true in your case. So why not just buy the hood, and rent the other two pieces if you can? The hood is the prettiest part anyway...I bought all three pieces for my graduation but ended up Goodwill-ing the gown and creating a shadow box with my cap (that I decorated with a turtle that matched the Maryland flag), my hood, Scholars medallion and the Graduation Program. It looks great hanging beside my degree...
I thought about renting but you can't rent all of the pieces, so if I have to buy a hood (which I agree is the coolest part) then that will be the only piece of the costume I will have. I'm not the type to hang it up to admire. I want to be able to whip the thing out and wear it to costume parties; I'm always at a loss for what to wear to those things anyway. But $280 is a lot to pay for a costume I will wear a few times. On the other hand, if I get an academic job that requires me to wear such regalia at various events, then I will get a lot more use out of it. I suppose I could wait until I have an academic job to buy the whole costume but then I'd still only have a useless hood until then. I don't know whether I'll buy it or not.. I'll figure that out later!
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