I will walk across that stage... no matter what

This weekend I attended my graduation from college.

I attend college online through Ashford University, I did not expect a traditional ceremony, I actually did not expect anything.

We arrived in Iowa late on Friday night, we live in Portland, Oregon. We took two 3 hour flights, with one 3 hour layover in Denver, and a 3 hour drive to Iowa. It was a nice trip, and though we were exhausted, we enjoyed every moment of it.

On Saturday we woke up bright and early and headed to Clinton from Davenport, it was going to take about 40 minutes, so we wanted to make sure we got there in time. We arrived right at 8 as the parking lot was opened, so we headed to breakfast at this little diner in Clinton. As we headed back we saw that the parking lot was full and there was a rather large line waiting for the shuttle bus.

We went ahead got into line and waited. While we waited, someone mentioned an email that was sent saying that the ceremony was cancelled. I went ahead and checked my email, and sure enough the ceremony was cancelled.

I have traveled a full day to get here, arranging my schedule, my husbands schedule, and my life for this. I was going to attend my graduation no matter what. The email stated they were still going to have a stage set up for us to walk across, so we went ahead and waited an hour to get on the bus.

Once we arrived at the campus there were people there to direct us as to where to go. I stood in line to get my name card and my husband stood in the line to wait to walk the stage. I was happy he waited in that line, as it was a rather long line, but we ended up standing next to some awesome people. We got to chit chat about life and our journey to this time.

There were three of us that ended up together from the line for the bus, we all had children, husbands, lives outside of school. We all had the desire to better our lives. Our journeys collided on this day, as we proudly waited to walk the stage to celebrate the end of this journey.

The original stage had collapsed when it was struck by lightening the night before. The college ended up setting up a stage within the gym, but this gym only held about 200 people at a time. This was a record breaking graduation for Ashford, and they were expecting about 1600 graduates and 8000 guests. As you can imagine with the size of the graduating class, there were not many alternatives.

We ended up in that line for an hour, but it didn't phase me at all.  I was just excited to be here and celebrate the end of this journey.

We were filed in as there was room. Guests went into one door and graduates into another. As I stood in line I realized I was going to walk that stage.

We got our pictures taken before we walked on the stage, we got to meet the deans of the college. Then we got our picture taken with the president and the provost. I got the entire experience of a graduation without having to sit through all the formalities. I got to talk to my husband while waiting to walk the stage, and he was able to take some pictures while I was on the stage.

After all the pictures were taken, we went to the bookstore and bought some Ashford clothing for me to wear, and some gifts for the girls. As we walked around the campus they announced that the commencement speaker was still going to speak. We decided that we might as well go in and enjoy the speaker. We went into the gym and sat with about 100 other people milling around. The speaker took the stage and we were instantly mesmerized by the words spoken. It was my story, but spoken by someone else. It was a powerful message and we were so happy we were able to stay and get pictures with the speaker.

There was a reception for those in the honor societies at 2pm. We went ahead and stayed for this, and the commencement speaker spoke again, but this time it was a much more intimate setting. There were only about 30 of us that stayed, so we sat in a circle around the speaker, and listened to his message. It was, again, so powerful. I was brought to tears, and I was so happy to have stayed and heard this second message.

We were still able to get pictures with our honors groups.

I was also able to get back to Davenport to celebrate my graduation. We ate at a place called Mo Brady's and had one of the best prime rib dinners we have had. It was an amazing little place tucked on the side of the main road through town, and we thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. We were back in the hotel by 6 pm and able to, finally, get some sleep.

It had been a long two days, but I was so happy I came. I was not disappointed by any of the challenges placed in my way. I was able to walk the stage, no matter what. Four children (and all of their activities), a full time job (that is pretty demanding of my time), a husband (who has been extremely supportive), and four years. I made it to the end of this journey, and I survived. I am a better person for having this experience.

This was a non traditional ceremony, but it exemplified the non traditional journey I took to get here. It was a ceremony that was made for me. I would do this all over again, and I will in two years when I complete my Masters. I would recommend Ashford to anyone, and have been very pleased with my experience, from start to finish.

What do you get when you go to a conference?

Life has been so busy that I haven't had time to post about my experience at the Grace Hopper Conference. So, what do you get when you go to a conference?

You get a bag of goodies the moment you walk in the door.

When I walked in the house the first night, the family went through the bag and took what they wanted from it. I had pens, but those were taken first.

For some reason I got three compacts:

I got several shirts and a sweatshirt from Yahoo!, because I was working at the booth.




Every company that was represented gave out items as well, Yahoo! gave nail polish. This was the hottest item at the conference and we nearly ran out. Our shirts were also popular, but those were just for the employees. I was honored to be able to attend this conference and I happily worked at the booth all three days.

The items I received in this bag were really nice to have, but the memories I took back from this conference were the non-tangibles. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about something that was said during a seminar, or think about the wonderful women I spent time with. I took much more from this experience than I will ever be able to show in a picture. A confidence that women belong in the computing industry, and that my girls will have a future no matter where they go.

Now that I have been home for a couple of weeks, I can say that my enthusiasm is just as strong as when I left the conference on the first day.

Grace Hopper Conference 2011

Today marks the last day of the Grace Hopper Conference for Women in Computing. During this conference we were challenged to start our own Tech Blog, so this is my first post in what I hope will be a blog I can keep up with.

I bet you are asking yourself "Who is Grace Hopper?" and Why haven't I heard of this before?"

These are both good questions, and something I asked myself before signing up for this conference.

Grace Hopper was a Computer Scientist in the United States Navy. The Grace Hopper Conference website has more information on this amazing woman. As I have learned more about her, the more I want to empower my girls to go into technology.

The one thing that has stood out to me at this conference is that there is a disconnect between Engineers and the other women in technology. While I am certainly not an Engineer, and I do not have a degree in Computer Science, I do live and breath technology and it has infiltrated every part of my life.

This conference is for University students to network with future companies, and to be encouraged by the women who speak here, but it is more than that. It is a chance for every woman to realize that she can make a difference in society. It is a time for my to realize that, while I don't code, I can diagnose and fix your email account in a matter of moments. I am passionate about technology, and my girls believe me to be Geekier than most other people in their lives.

This conference has shown me that there are still stereotypes I need to break through, and that I can make a difference in my community. I have decided to look into how to reach out to the K-12 grades more and let them know that it is ok to be Geeky.

So, today wraps up an inspirational conference, where I was challenged on so many levels. This is just the first step to complete those challenges.