Katie Hodge, M.Ed.

I still have a couple more days to turn in my portfolio, but my Master of Education degree was conferred this weekend!  Ethan and I drove out to Lynchburg, VA (about 8 hours away) to participate in all the graduation festivities.  It was an exhausting, exhilarating weekend, for sure!  

Since hotel rooms were crazy-expensive and booked up in January, Liberty opened up dorms as hotel rooms.  I haven't slept in a dorm since 2009, and... I'd forgotten how awful those mattresses are.  And twin beds!?  You'd best believe those got pushed together, haha!

We got up really early and got ready, then rode a shuttle over to the football practice field, where the graduates assembled before the processional.

I'm in there somewhere... with several thousand of my "classmates."

My lovely friend Abby and I made it on the JumboTron :-)  I'm so glad we were able to track each other down on the practice field so we could sit together!

After the big commencement ceremony, for the rest of the day, individual departments had their smaller degree presentation ceremonies, where our names and degrees were read, and we got to walk across the stage.  Since the School of Education is pretty big, they split ours into undergraduate and graduate ceremonies. Instead of being in football stands and having only a vague idea of where I was, Ethan was able to sit across the aisle from me at this ceremony :-)

Shaking hands with the Dean of the School of Education, and posing for the camera. :-)

Returning to my seat... I think it "hit me" about halfway back... :-)

The next day, we drove back home, stopped by my inlaws' house for dinner and to pick up our Charley-boy, and they had gotten me a congratulations cake :-)  We were all pretty amused at the spelling error... but the cake still tasted like an A+!

Ethan got me a pretty little charm with a graduation cap, diploma, and "14" under it :-)  I think I'm going to put it with my Charley charm on my "mom" necklace... two of the things I'm proudest of!

I am so thankful that I was able to accomplish this!  There were some incredibly frustrating moments... and some times when I wondered why I was even bothering.  But I am so proud of myself for sticking it out, and so thankful to Ethan and the rest of my family and friends for encouraging me and praying for me when it got tough.  I'm glad that my days of deadlines and huge papers are over, and ready to go full steam ahead into our BarBABYdos summer.  It's time to make another dream come true! :-)