Hello everyone:

So here you are at the end of the semester. You are getting ready to walk across the stage to get your diploma. Well done!

Oh, the rolled paper you receive on stage probably won’t be your diploma. When we graduated, my son and I got a poster of the school when we shook hands with the dean. Another time, I got a rolled up Word document that said they would send me my diploma when they were sure my fees had been paid in full.

Don’t sweat it- that’s how things work. Do keep on top of things and call or email the school if you don’t get your diploma in the time they say they’ll get it to you. One of my schools didn’t send my final paperwork through until I had called them three times. A job was hinging on my receiving a final transcript that showed the degree had been conferred, but  one of the ladies in the office for my school “just hadn’t gotten around to sending the paperwork over to the registrar.” Then she tried to blame the registrar after the first two times I called. I finally called the registrar and she got it straightened out.

I do have a question for you: Who are you now? For many, many years (probably since you were 4 or 5 years old), you have been a student. Now you aren’t. One of the hardest things I found was to  redefine who I was. Since it took me a few months to get a job, that resulted in a lot of soul searching.

This might be difficult for you, and you may go through some depression until you get that first job, since you are no longer in the “student” category, but watch out for the tendency to stay in school after school so that you never have to redefine who you are. It’s an exciting time of life, so get your Big Boy or Big Girl pants on and go for it!

Congratulations on a job well done!

Dr. Sheri