graduation

I did it. It's over. I'm done.

On 12-13-14, I crossed the stage and turned my tassel, signifying the end of 3.5 years of work towards undergrad degrees in Finance and Accounting. Before the actual stage crossing, they had us stand up for various achievements - cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude. I knew that one would happen - they were nice enough to tell me that when they handed me my silver summa cord. Right after we sat down, they announced that 15 of us were graduating with a perfect 4.0. We stood. I got hit in the face with my tassel for the second time when I turned to look at my parents. That recognition kind of made all the hard work and insanity worth it.

Huge thanks to my mom and dad for more things that I could ever list (including talking me into taking accounting back in high school, making me dinner all the nights I studied - without expecting me to clean up afterwards, for listening to my rants about group work, for making me go to bed when it hit 2am, and for not making me go to bed during my one all-nighter). Thanks to Meagan and Travis, for being two of the best friends I could ever have, for making me laugh when I needed it, distracting me at all the right times, and for always having more confidence in me than I had in myself. Meg - I'm so glad we met our first semester and I'm so thankful that we wanted to be friends with each other as much as the other one did. Travis - when we met, I never expected you'd come to one of my graduations, let alone two. 

Hugs and kisses to my family, who constantly tell me they're proud of me, and major love to my grandfather, for coming to my graduation and promising to come to all future ones. 

Big thanks to my capstone group - one of two groups that I've really liked - and I hope we keep using the group chat for a long time. 

High fives to Chris (for putting up with me every semester of college and for all the things we did that made people think we were dating... and for keeping me sane(ish) for the past three years), Jess (for being part of both groups I liked, and for being awesome), Kaelyn (for being part of the first great group and for being excited about Christmas cards), and Caitlin (for being my buddy even when we lived five hours apart)... WE DID IT, Y'ALL. 

More high fives to Shelby (for being my first best friend and coming to graduation), Chelsi (for being my second best friend and reminding me to have fun), Clifford (for bantering with me since day 1... literally... and for convincing me to get an iPhone), Alex (for being my favorite Navy boy), Miranda (for being an awesome friend and fellow gluten free pizza and beach loving lady), Maverick (for making me be nice and also other reasons), Nick (because we went to high school together but weren't friends until much later), Cassie from work (for being the best person to replace me and for sharing gluten free cake with me), Shay (for being my lil sister), Jennifer (for taking me under your wing from the beginning), Chrissy (for being an awesome little and a great fellow big), Noel, Kelsey, Nikki, Logan, and Myranda (for being the greatest honors littles ever), K, Tyler G., Tyler H., and James (for being my littles from TM and not being weirded out by my crazy), Justin (even though you annoy the living daylights out of me sometimes), and to everyone I didn't mention right now. I have a lot of people to thank and if I love you, you know it.

That said, only the undergraduate degree is done. Grad school starts January 21st. I'm not going to think about that just yet. Instead, here's a bunch of pictures from graduation.

 And one of my absolute favorites:

(: 

college update

Last week was a little hectic.
And by a little hectic, I mean really freaking hectic.

I had an accounting ethics midterm due Wednesday, two midterms on Thursday, and rehearsals Thursday & Friday. Deadlines at work were Wednesday (and the 20th)... so that was fun.

The Grad Gala at my university was the 14th and 15th of this month. All it is, really, is all of the stuff you need (or don't need) for graduation - cap & gown, lei (I go to an Island university. We wear leis at graduation), an alumni shirt, a graduation shirt, pictures, the graduation DVD... all that nonsense. There are tables for the alumni association, career services, and grad school stuff. It's great - a little overwhelming - but also nice to be able to deal with it all in one place. Luckily for me, it's in the building that I spend most of my time in. I bought my cap & gown on the first day and the lei and t-shirts on the second day. I hadn't quite decided if I wanted them on day 1. Like I said, it was a little overwhelming.

I've elected to not take the GMAT because it isn't required for me to get into the MBA program at TAMUCC. There were a lot of factors that played into this decision, but the main one was not wanting to spend $250 on a test that I wasn't ready for, that would only be useful for getting into a school that I probably wouldn't go to.

My grad school application is due November 15th. I think. I hope.

I've got a rough draft of a finance paper due on the 29th. Exams on the 3rd and 4th. Shows starting on the 6th. MFT (major field test) on the 8th. Finance project due on the 10th. Capstone presentation on either the 11th or the 13th. Ethics presentation on the 19th. Exam on the 25th. One final paper due December 2nd and another final paper AND a final exam due on the 4th. I think I have a final exam somewhere in there.

I want to throw up.

one step closer

I applied for graduation today. On December 13, 2014, at a time TBA, I'll walk across the stage and graduate with an undergraduate degree in Finance and Accounting. That is exactly 13 weeks from today.

Am I excited? Oh, yes.
Am I terrified? Absolutely.
Do I know exactly what I'm doing next? Of course not.

All I know at this point is that it's happening, and fast.

Next up is (I think) ordering a cap and gown, taking the pictures for and making my graduation announcements/invitations, taking the GMAT, applying for grad school, trying not to go crazy...

The point of this post is just to document the 13-week mark and to warn you that I'll have lots of graduating college / getting into grad school stuff.