Carson's Graduation!

The week of Carson's graduation was not a pretty one. It rained Tuesday through Saturday and we felt that for sure his outdoor graduation on the Quad at John Carroll would be moved indoors to the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University. The call for what to do in case of rain was going to be made on Friday at noon, but ended up being pushed to Saturday because the seniors really, REALLY wanted to graduate on the Quad and the weather forecast said Sunday would be nice. So they ended up making the decision to have graduation at John Carroll after all, but warned everyone about the mud. 

And then Sunday turned out to be beautiful, and everyone forgot about the mud (although my chair sank into the ground on one side). Carson's parents and I went to church in the morning, and left right after the sermon in order to get to the campus for the ceremony. Carson was already there for rehearsal. 

We found seats right by the walkway where the graduates entered, which was great for seeing Carson then, although we could see NOTHING during the ceremony itself. 

Here's the processional. 635 or so undergraduate students and 212 graduate students.

Carson spotted us, all ready to get that hood around his neck.

Our friend Cherise, who wouldn't look at the camera, got her Master's in Education.

Faculty

So...this was our view. We could hear everything the speakers at the front said, but we also heard the super loud older gentleman behind us complaining about the mud... loud and clear.

Here's a picture of the ceremony that I found on John Carroll's Facebook page.

There he is! Master of Arts in Religious Studies

And here's the best picture I captured, with help from cropping in a bunch. Sometime soon, I think pictures of the graduation will be online to purchase. We clapped as he crossed the stage, but he was so far away that he couldn't hear us. There were so many people that even loud cheers and clapping sounded very far away.

 Master's Degree students got their diplomas first, so Carson was finished about five minutes after they began reading names. We convinced him via text to get up and leave, as many other students were doing. A few pictures were captured when he got up and joined us. 

The white velvet on his hood is for Arts and Humanities. The gold and blue are John Carroll's color and the sleeves have a funny bell shape on them.

I was surprised that they put a real diploma in there. With all those names they had to call, I'm not sure how they didn't get mixed up somehow. 

And I had to document the result of the muddy ground. Not too bad, and I'm thankful I wore something with a platform or I'd have been toast. 

We went to Melt to celebrate the graduation. Carson and I split "The Dude Abides", which had homemade meatballs, fried mozzarella cheese sticks, rich marinara, provolone & romano

  

Carson's parents split the "Mom's Meatloaf Dinner" which was described as homemade tender meatloaf, chipotle ketchup glaze, garlic mashed redskin potatoes, fried onion straws, muenster cheese

After Melt, we returned to the school, where the graduation was over and people were mostly taking pictures in front of the sign and other campus landmarks. We took a family picture with Carson back in his gown. 

And a picture of part of the sea of chairs. We were all thankful to not be the people who did set up and tear down. 

We came home and Carson and his parents all napped. 

I had to wake the graduate up just in time for his celebration cookout in the backyard. 

Spoiler alert: Carson won this round.

 After the party, a few friends stayed to eat ice cream bars and chat. Once they had gone home, we FaceTimed with Trent and the girls, back in Pennsylvania. 

And Carson got a picture with his diploma. 

Yay! He's finished! Two years of school felt like nothing now that we're on the other side of it. I'm so proud of Carson and his dedication to his studies. He loves what he does and more than earned this degree. On to the next! 

Flying Colors

You probably haven't grasped the importance of the GRE test from the posts written here, and that's entirely my fault. For weeks - no, MONTHS - we have been thinking about this test (it's short for Graduate Record Examinations).

It's been one of those things that we think about so often that sometimes I have to say "Carson, we need to talk about something else" because we really discuss it THAT often. Carson has spent most days this summer reading and studying a variety of things in addition to working full-time labor jobs as well as his part-time research assistant-ship. You might say that his plate has been a bit full.

Carson took this test initially in the Spring of 2011 and scored fairly high, although to talk to him you might think he failed it. Since his scores weren't quite satisfactorily high enough for him, he's been preparing to take it again for an incredibly long time. Why? Well, he's getting ready to apply for PhD programs for Fall 2014.

He studied for so long (I believe he began studying in January, but REALLY buckled down once the spring semester ended) because his desire was to continue taking (free) practice tests until he achieved the desired score. The "desired" score was a number that a school mentioned when he asked if there was anything he could do to waive the application fee (you won't know unless you ask). 

All of that background wouldn't have been necessary if I'd kept you in the loop. 

On the 17th of August, Carson took the GRE for the second time. He continued to study and take practice tests that week and added a few "superfoods" to his diet in hopes that they would help him focus during the test. I was out with friends when he finished the test (I know - sounds rude, right?) but asked him to call and tell me how he did. 

I got a cryptic text that said "I am all that is man" which caused me to assume that he was pleased with the score. I called him and he didn't answer (he went out with friends too, after all, so I wasn't THAT terrible), so I called him a couple more times and guess what? He got a BETTER score than was required for that one school. As he would definitely say - "boo ya". 

99th percentile. He's a smart one. 

I just thought I'd brag about Carson a little bit because he really studies SO hard and works so much. He's the most diligent student I've ever met, going so far as to read the recommended readings AND the books for the professors he's working for (he sort of works as a teacher's assistant, so sometimes he teaches a class or two) AND work a full-time summer job AND study like crazy. 

Why Carson Attends a Jesuit School

Or, what Carson's doing, why he's doing it, and all the other things we've been asked about his schooling. 

Disclaimer: This is the post that I've been meaning to write. It's imperfect and I'm not the family academic, so I may have gotten things wrong. I'm going to go ahead and say that if you still have questions after reading it, please email me. 

There are several of you, our wonderful readers, who have only heard bits and pieces of what we're doing. You probably know by now that we don't live in Washington anymore - that we're in Ohio. You possibly even know that Carson is going to John Carroll University. The school itself might be just a name to you. We'll be honest - it was Carson's last choice, the very last place he applied. We'd never heard of it before and kept forgetting that he'd applied. It was the "other" school at the end of a long list of places with bigger names. 

In so many ways, we've sensed God's leading in moving here. We were really praying for a program that would offer funding. We went through our undergrads debt-free but held jobs that covered those expenses and didn't give us much in the way of savings, so we didn't have tons of money to spend and we'd rather not take out loans. There were several schools that offered really good scholarships, but they didn't cover the whole expense or hey didn't give any sort of assistantship or internship that would be good for Carson's resume. We took those as a no, though there was one school that we almost chose, since it was nearly funded and did provide opportunities he looked for in a school (plus it was only a few hours from my hometown). 

The very last school to contact us, the one we had forgotten about ended up being the school God provided. John Carroll interviewed Carson over the phone for a graduate assistant position at the school and he was accepted! We took several days to pray about it and really felt that God was leading us to move to Ohio. As surprised as we were (we just never thought about Ohio!), we were excited to move. 

So why a Jesuit school? 

First of all, you might want to know what it is that Carson's hoping to do. Yes, he did get his undergrad in Biblical Studies and yes, he's the best public speaker I know, but we've prayed long and hard about pursuing seminary and an eventual pastoral role and for now, we believe that God's closed that door. So this is not seminary. John Carroll is a Jesuit school - the Jesuits branched off of Catholicism around the time of the Reformation. Jesuit schools have a high standard of education. They're really good schools. 

We don't view ministry as something that must happen within a "Christian" setting alone (pastors, youth pastors, missionaries), but as something that all Christians do where they are within their own field (dentists, teachers, sales managers at car dealerships...). Carson wants to be a light in a dark place. His desire is to live as a follower of God in a field made up of mostly unbelievers. 

Carson wants to pursue teaching, research and writing (basically, tenure) at a university. Though we may end up at a Christian University at some point, his goal isn't to teach Christians. He'd like to study and teach in a more secular field, among people who aren't Christians. He'd really like to be published one day, and he's already thinking about the things he'd like to research. 

Carson's master's degree will be in Theology and Religious Studies. He's a graduate assistance in that department of the school with, as you've seen recently, his own office, a proximity to professors who know all about his passions, and some experience in the field. He works for several professors at the school, helping grade papers (for undergrads), filling in to teach when the professor is away, helping do research for their books and projects. In every way, he is in his element. He's so passionate about academia, adores what he's doing, and eats up all of this learning and experience. 

We'll be here until after he graduates in 2014, and then there will probably be more school. We only know what's ahead of us in the next two years (and then, we don't have details) but feel free to ask questions!

To see the beautiful campus, click here!  

John Carroll University

Carson's beginning his first day of classes on this beautiful campus today!