Last Class...Ever?

Yesterday marked a historic event in my educational life. Short of winning the lottery, or a sudden mid-life crisis, I am finished with traditional classroom education. Yep, yesterday marked the end of my life as a classroom student. I am done with classes...forever. I know, never say never and all that, but for the current planned future, I will likely not be attending class as a traditional student.

This does not mean I'm done with testing (Comprehensive exams sometime this summer...probably August), presentations (once a quarter for my lab, and once a year for the department), or even lectures (a seminar is just a lecture that you won't be tested on). At some point, I will probably still have classroom responsibilities, but hopefully in the role of lecturer/professor.

Really, for seeming like such a milestone, it comes with very little fanfare. Now, I simply continue in the life of a graduate student. Nothing special happens, no weeks/months off (as with the end of high school or college), just show up today and go about business as usual. Nonetheless, I'm choosing to mark the event...by making a post about it. It seems strange in some regards though. For the past 22 years of my life (preschool at age 3), going to school and taking classes has been the mainstay. I know I had summers off from classes, but that only represents 2-3 months a year. I have spent the majority of my life in a classroom...and now, it is no more. I'm almost sad...almost.

What's next? Lab work, lab work, comprehensive exam, and then more lab work. Once I clear the hurdle of comps, I will be exclusively focused on getting out of here with that piece of paper and 3 little letters. Hard to imagine that's likely 3 years away. Oh well...back to work, I guess.

Note: Picture stolen form some website. Google image search for classroom.