At Last

I am finally an official graduate of BYU with a Bachelor's Degree in Marriage, Family, and Human Development. You may have thought that I already was graduated. You may have heard it straight from my mouth. But, alas, I was not. I left BYU with one class - ONE CLASS - unfinished. It was my advanced English G.E., English 315.

Jakob was ready to graduate and I only had one class left, a class that was offered through Independent Study. I was a dutiful wife, left BYU with my husband, and planned on completing that class through Independent Study over the summer. Well, I was so sick of school. And so sick of having to study academics when all I really wanted to do was study my baby, Kobe. And, they let me dress in a cap and gown and walk. They even handed me something that felt like a diploma. I felt graduated. So I took the summer off and decided I would complete the course in the fall.

Six years, three babies, one move, and one failed attempt at completing the course ($600!) later, I FINALLY FINISHED THE CLASS! Two summers ago, I stopped by BYU and paid for the course AGAIN, bought all the books, and vowed that this would be the year. I wanted to get it done before Tate was born, but June came and passed and I wasn't even close.

It was touch-and-go at the end. I even had to buy a time extension. I thought going to school with one baby was hard six years ago, but completing one course with one baby + three kids was a nightmare. I don't know how all the other student moms do it continually. Jakob was super supportive and made deals with me like, "I'll go and buy you a Snicker's Blizzard if you study for an hour." That's all it took. I was diligent in my studies EVERY DAY after that promise.

(We were really happy graduation day because we thought we were going to be rich soon. The world was so hopeful back then. Kids.)

I actually finished the course in November, but my final came with a traumatic experience that shook me up a bit, so I put off posting about it until now. I had to take my final exam through a proctor. I made an appointment to take it on a Thursday night at 7pm. The proctor turned out to be an 85-year-old woman who gives tests out of her apartment. She sat on her couch, knitting and watching 'Law & Order', while I took my final in the next room. It was a handwritten final and the last question was writing an entire page essay.

After 2 hours, just as I was getting ready to start my essay, Proctor Granny came into my room and said, "I had no idea your final was going to take this long. This is too late for me. I need you to leave." I was freakin' out. I asked for 20 more minutes and she annoyingly agreed. I wrote like the wind sentences like, "My research paper was interesting because my topic was good. I chose my topic because it was interesting. My sources were good because they supported my topic and they were interesting."

After the final I should have been jumping for joy because I was finished, but I was kind of traumatized. I wrote my instructor and told her the situation, and she was very sympathetic. (After I bought my time extension, my instructor was sugary-sweet to me. I'm sure she was just thinking, "Finish this course already, you idiot!")

Anyway, I eventually calmed down, got an A on my final, and GOT AN A IN THE CLASS! And this class was stinkin' hard. Possibly my hardest BYU class ever.

I am officially graduated. And, although my diploma will say December 2008, I will always claim my graduation date to be April 2002. I am pretty proud of myself for starting college, getting married, having a baby, and graduating in 4 1/2 years. Plus, I cannot let the hours of hypnotizing Kobe with Baby Mozart - so that I could study - be for naught.