Suitable for Framing

Diplomas finally arrived at the registrar's office this week. You would think that picking up my diploma would be a morale boost, but not so. The career services office has decided that the most efficient way to garner responses to its employment surveys is to distribute them with the diplomas. Thus, every diploma comes with a tacit request to put a dollar value on it. So far, mine is worth zero.

Two weeks to bar results.

Immortalized on Film

Last week the school surprised me with a complimentary 5x7" photo of me receiving my leatherette diploma cover. Very nice. It makes me glad I put off responding to the eight emails I've received to date from the graduation photographer.

Graduation

Speeches were spoken, hands were shaken, and I collected a handsome diploma cover (sans diploma--that will have to wait until the last round of exams are graded). For the graduates, I think the best part about graduation may have been the opportunity to scope out one another's regalia. Students rarely talk about their GPAs, so most of us were finding out for the first time who would or wouldn't graduate with honors.

After the ceremony, someone asked me if I felt any different. I said, "ask me again after the bar exam." By itself, a juris doctorate doesn't amount to much. As one wag at the ceremony observed, as if it isn't bad enough that we can't practice law, we can't even make people call us "doctor."

Tax Policy Exam

My last (ever) exam was a barn burner. The Tax Policy professor asked some devilishly specific questions about readings that were assigned weeks ago. I reckon I handled it okay. Even if I didn't, this late in the game anything but an F qualifies as a success.

And that's that. The only thing standing between me and a juris doctorate is the formality of picking up my diploma.

Regalia

My graduation regalia has arrived. I'm renting, so I only get to keep the cap. You can tell a juris doctorate is a prestigious degree because the regalia is very, very silly.

I tried on a sample before I placed my order, but somehow I got a cap that is much too small. I hope my sewing skills are such that I can fix it, because I don't want to deal with ordering a replacement.