Graduating College

Wow. Woo!! Yeah! 

Right now, during a quarantine graduating from a nationally recognized, prestigious, land grant, university did not seem like that big of deal. I have worked 1000s of hours on projects, presentations, homework assignments and had lows and highs over the past 4 years. Today, my Purdue University Commencement for 2020 came in a box from the FedEx man. 

Upon reflecting, I am realizing from a Google search that I am now a part of the 34% of US born Americans who have graduated with a 4-year degree. Google also lets me smile making my part in the approx. 57.3% of women graduating with a degree compared to men.  

I am a Boilermaker alum. I am, by my count, a 4th generation and maybe 27th or 29th Boiler in my family. Wild huh! I am proud that my family has constantly supported a college education and hope to continue to share the value I have seen and witnessed over my four years. 

Choosing to be a Boilermaker 4 years ago was the harder decision, I wanted to have things easier and have things handed to me. I wanted to have it all and not have to do anything different than I had before. Today, I am proud of the fact I made a decision with a long-term lens. I needed to learn to not be a big fish in a little pond. I needed to be rejected a couple times to humble myself. I needed to break myself down to be able to see my relationships with deeper compassion. I needed to be challenged and learn that I can still do it. 

For me, I needed the harder decision because there was rewards in the fruit of hard work done. One of Purdue University’s informal taglines, “Boiler Up, Hammer Down!” reminds me just that. Let’s be proud of the work we have done and get working on what’s next!

Originally Posted: June 7, 2020