My Husband, Juris Doctor

Well, it's official! Graduation was a great success, and Eric officially has his juris doctor degree. I realize I am starting to sound like a broken record with this, but I really am so proud of him. He worked so hard, and the last few years have gone by so quickly. I can't believe it's over already!

So, now for graduation details! The ceremony was held at the Georgetown undergraduate campus, which is separate from the law school. We had never been there before, because it is not really easily accessible for the driving-impaired. The ceremony plan involved the bulk of the ceremony being held outdoors on the Healy lawn, surrounded by gorgeous old buildings. This first part on the lawn included the graduation speaker, conferring of the degrees, etc., and all graduating law students would attend this portion. Then, the graduates would split into their "sections" for the actual diploma distribution in separate locations. That way, the spectators wouldn't have to sit through 600 names being read. Rather, they only did about 100-120 per section. So, that was nice.

The planned backdrop for Part 1 of the ceremony

As of Saturday, however, there was a glitch: 70% chance of severe thunderstorms! Not so good for the outdoor portion of the program. So, everything had to be moved indoors. The problem with that was that to attend the indoor program, you needed tickets, and we only had 4 tickets for the 5 people in our group. However, my wonderful mother- and grandmother-in-law volunteered to go straight to the second (diploma-awarding) location to save seats, allowing Eric's father, stepmother, and doting wife (that's me) to go ahead to the first portion with no concern for the ticket shortage. Thanks, Toni and Gramz!

Eric and his mother walking to the diploma location

That pesky doting wife again

So, we had two taxis pick us up from our apartment at 12:15 to take us to the University. From there we dropped Toni and Gramz off at the diploma location and the rest of us continued on to McDonough Arena for the first portion of the ceremony. We were VERY early, so we spent quite a bit of time sitting and reading through the program. Things finally got underway at 2:00. The 600 graduating law students processed in (and somehow all three of us managed to miss Eric as he walked past us), and then the speeches got underway. At long last, the degrees were conferred on the group, the graduates were declared "sons and daughters of Georgetown forever," and then they were hooded. Then it was on to Part 2.

The graduate after Part 1 of the ceremony

Toni and Gramz had saved us excellent seats in the front row at the second location, so we were good to go for that! At that part of the ceremony, the student speaker said a few words then the diplomas were handed out. How great to hear them announce Eric's name, Juris Doctor! Can I say it one more time? I am so proud of him!

Eric getting his diploma!

From there it was off to find a scenic spot on the campus for pictures (which was not hard to do). The usual post-graduation photo-op commenced, then Eric and I called cabs for everyone to get home while we ran to drop off his regalia. By the time we returned, the first of the 2 cabs had already arrived, and Toni, Gramz and Eric's stepmother Suellen had taken that cab. Meanwhile, Eric, his father, and I waited for the second cab.....and waited....and waited. After one hour and several phone calls to the cab company later, we finally gave up and just started walking until we were finally able to hail a cab on our own. Phew! That day turned long there at the end.

So that is the story of Eric's graduation. It was a great event, and I am so glad to have been here with him to experience it. I am also so glad his family was able to come. That really helped make it even more special!

I'll be posting again in the next day or two with more details about our weekend with family, but for now, here's a few more graduation pictures:

Eric and his rather fancy piece of paper

Showing off his snazzy hood. 

A little info about the regalia:

The sleeves of his gown and the stripes on them represent a doctoral degree. 

The stripes on the sleeves , the front part of his hood, and his tassel are purple, which is the color symbolizing law.

The inside of his hood is blue and gray, to represent Georgetown University.

Congratulations, Eric!