Things I learned about Graduation

Both signatures on Thursday evening-Wow! 

Getting portfolio signed.  
I think you have until Saturday to have your portfolio signed and handed in.  Somehow I was able to get my papers ready and have them signed on Thursday evening.  The advisors appeared in the cafeteria at dinner.  I have heard that trapping advisor and second reader can sometimes be tricky.  I didn't have a problem and felt so good that they were signed and ready to go.

Handing in portfolio.
There are designated times on the schedule when you can hand in your portfolio.  They all seemed to collide with other things on the schedule. I had entertained ordering my binder and having it shipped to me, and I know there is a post about that somewhere on this blog, along with the costs of the binder and the shipping charges, which were outrageous. I had offered to use my own shipping account.  I kind of wish I had done that.  Then all I would have to do is to go to the registrars office ( in the library) and hand it in.  I did hear that some graduates that live in the area stopped by and got their binder early.  Smart thinking!

Great to get the portfolio/thesis bound and delivered. 

Oh yes, You cannot imagine the relief when you have handed that portfolio/thesis in.

Questions that came up about portfolio from others.

• The portfolios are going digital. I expect the process of handing in your information will then change.  One person said they want to boycott going digital and actually want copies of their portfolio in the library.  There is something to be said of both. I would have loved the opportunity to float through other portfolios from home while hitting a block with my own.  I have liked my time of going to the library each residency and checking out 3-6 of the portfolios with a friend.  

• Another graduate asked me if I was going to sign a piece of paper that I didn't want my portfolio reviewed without permission.  He was concerned that if they make these digital it might hurt his chances of publishing his work.  My thoughts on this are... You are not going to publish your work as it is in the portfolio.  This document is created to satisfy the degree requirements.  As you get into it you will realize it is a different sort of document and not a book you will share with anyone.  YOu also own the copyright of that document.  

Request for transcripts

I have already covered this in a previous post. I did request my transcripts when I handed in my portfolio. 

Presentation

I would see my fellow graduates sleeping on couches and chairs after they gave their presentation. I was absolutely so surprised at how exhausted I was after giving my presentation. I lecture in groups all of the time, but this was different.  Be prepared for total shut down of your body. 

Presentation times

Yes, you are asked what time or place or specifications you want for your presentation.  You don't always get it. I did my presentation during dinner.  But I figured that was better than at 8:00 a.m and thanks to one of my classmates, who made an announcement at dinner, I actually had some people there.  The difficulty in scheduling the presentations is not overlapping them. All of the graduates want to see the other graduates presentations. 

  I did not know you could have more than 45 mintues. One graduate student had a longer presentation. I wish I could have requested a bit more time. I felt I had to rush to get through mine. 

The requesting of times and place are done about a month before hand. I believe I blogged on this already. 

Portfolio Printing

Some students waited to get to school to print their potrfolio. I don't blame them. It is expensive to print and why not use the schools resources.  WARNING. These students were staying up late getting this done. I have also been in the computer lab when... the machine jammed.  No fun,  I would not recommend this. I ended up buying printing cartridges and did mine at home.  It was cheaper than sending it out. I had two printed and bound- one for the school and one for myself. I know many classmates that said they were going to do it themselves. I know me. I would get busy and forget and I wanted a copy to quickly put on my shelf and refer to when needed. But frankly I don't want to look at it for a while. 

Graduation Day

I'm going to make a separate post about graduation day.