Bachelor of Thinkology

Okay, my bachelor's degree is not in Thinkology. Of course not. It just amused me to use that reference from The Wizard of Oz to tie together the different things I'll be writing about tonight.

First off, as you can see from the photo above, I finally received my diploma from the University of Phoenix, exactly eleven months and one day after completing my last course. I had filed the diploma application and paid the fee in February 2005, walked in Commencement in March 2005, and waited in vain for my diploma for several months after that. Eventually I learned that I'd missed a Financial Aid Exit Interview form, which was in fact not an interview at all but a piece of paper. So I faxed that up to Phoenix, waited another couple of months...and nothing happened. I called my advisor, and learned they'd lost the diploma application. I made sure he knew that I'd paid the fee, faxed in a new form, and waited some more.

I hoped the diploma would arrive by Christmas, and that the reason I hadn't seen it was that John snagged it for framing. No such luck. On December 23rd, I got a transcript in the mail. This said I graduated with honors in February, 2005. Great, it it still wasn't the diploma!



Then last night, I got another annoying UoP email that assumed I had NOT yet graduated. I've been getting invitations to walk in later Commencements, and to buy software, and to enroll in different degree programs, but this particular email, subject line "KAREN, you can complete your degree," really rankled. I had hoped that sort of thing would stop once they knew I'd graduated. Guess not!

I was all set to call the advisor again, and give him grief again, when the diploma arrived today. At work. Yes, it was addressed to me, at my work address, without even the company name on it. I'm lucky the mail room accepted the envelope. As it is, they had to call me to find out what department I was in.

But no matter. It's here. I have it. I am a college graduate--officially. And only 11 months late!

*****

Yes, in case anyone is wondering, I do feel significantly better today, although my cold or flu or whatever is still going strong. I worked and was productive, and not especially miserable. And the good news kept on going when I got home tonight. John got sort of a promotion thingy today. Yay, John!

And I've made more progress on the Heirs edit. I'm on Chapter 12, the next to last chapter, page 449. I should be done by the weekend, and ready to wrestle with the query and cover letters and synopsis.

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I was going to work another whole subject into this entry, a theory I have about why protagonists must suffer in fiction. I was going to try to tie that into the "thinkology" theme by saying something semi-clever about how my brain works, and the fact that my degree, unlike the Scarecrow's, isn't honorary. I had do some actual thinking, and even study critical thinking, to get that bachelor of science in business / accounting diploma. So in a way it is a degree in Thinkology, not to be confused with the primary education software of the same name.

But this entry is long enough already, without the "theory which is mine" about fictional characters and the need for conflict. I'll get to it Friday. Maybe.

*cough cough*

Karen