Bridgette's Graduation Day

Saturday, May 14 - Today is Bridgette's day!  It was a long, arduous road with more than her fair share of challenges, but she made it in grand style, and today she got to be the star!

We picked up Bridgette, John and Barbara just before 8:00 a.m. and took them to a fine Whataburger breakfast.

Well, at least we took her to the Original Whataburger, which is just off the beach, and is the only two-story (we think) Whataburger,  She was too nervous to eat much anyway.  Then we dropped her off at the American Bank Center Arena (where the Corpus hockey team plays), and did not see her again until she walked in the processional into the ceremony.




Most of the pictures we took inside the arena did not come out very well, the lighting was not sufficient, but I'll post a few.

 

Time seemed to drag while we waited for the big event to get underway.  

Finally, the Processional began and started filing in to fill the seats.  The faculty was seated first, but Bridgette marched in just after them, because she was in the FRONT ROW.


In this picture, Bridgette is in the front row, 4th from the right, with the black tam.  On her left, in the blue tam, is her advisor, Dr. Greg Stunz, who hoods her on the platform when they announce her name.

Bridgette was the only Ph.D. candidate receiving her diploma today, so she was in a category by herself.  Later, standing around outside, we would hear people whisper "she's the one who got her doctorate" as they pointed to her.  John said they heard that in the elevator too, so she really got to be the star today.
But we took lots of pictures outside, so I'll post some of them.

 

As you can see, this is a beautiful setting, and the day was perfect -- low 80s, low humidity, slight breeze -- Corpus at its best.  I think this was probably the nicest day, weatherwise, that we had ever experienced in Corpus, and it couldn't have picked a better day!

Here's Bridgette with her advisor, who is a great person, mentor, and friend to both John and Bridgette.  When Bridgette lost her advisor last year due to a tenure issue, Greg stepped in and took Bridgette on, even though he had just then finished with John.

This was Greg's first Ph.D. graduate to walk at graduation, so he was very excited (and a little nervous) to get to do the hooding process on stage.  He, along with the rest of us, had tried unsuccessfully last year to get John to walk, and since Bridgette's ceremony, he said he is now going to make that a requirement for all future Ph.D. students -- that they have to walk at graduation!

So here's the rest of us:  Bridgette and John.

Bridgette and her Mom:

Her dad couldn't come -- he had to work, so here's Bridgette talking to her Dad on the phone just after graduation.

John held her gown and hood while she was on the phone -- I guess this is the closest we are going to get with him and a cap and gown.

Here's Bridgette with the in-laws.

The regalia is a really big deal, and the colors, tassels, caps and hoods are color-coded for the different degrees.  The doctor's cap is a six-sided velvet tam, and a Philosophy degree is dark blue.  The gowns also differ--bachelor has long, pointed sleeves; master has an oblong sleeve, and the doctor's gown has bell-shaped sleeves.  The velvet border of the hood represents the degree or the color of the field of study, current trend is for the color to represent the field of study, but historically, dark blue was characteristic for a Ph.D. in any field.  Cap tassels for the doctor's degree are gold, while the tassels for the master and bachelor degrees are black.  Holders of all these degrees wear the tassel on the left.  The ritual of bachelor degree candidates shifting the tassel from right to left marks the conferring of one's first university degree. 

Finally, we left this area and drove over to the party!  On the way, we passed the Holiday Inn, which was the turn-around place for Bridgette's marathon training, so she has fond memories of it.  She and her friend, Sandra, ran this coastline drive many, many times, and she wanted to run it one more time, but we never had time for that (when she had running shoes on).

The bay was very pretty today, and there was no haze so we could see a good distance.  There was a line of sailboats right along this drive which brightened up the horizon.  (If you click on the picture, they may show up a little better.)

So we got to Megan's and Brian's for the party.  Although it was to celebrate 4 people (2 master graduates and one person leaving the lab), but Bridgette was truly the star.  Everyone was so thrilled for her accomplishments.

Greg always brings his family to these affairs, and he has two of the cutest kids [Madeline and Hunter], which Bridgette will miss, so I'll put their pictures, and their mother, on here for posterity.

Bridgette wore her cap almost all day, as well as a big smile.  Congratulations, Bridgette!!!