To have and to hold a degree

An announcement ran in the newspaper last month about the completion of my Master of Arts degree in communication.

As a result, several people in the community have expressed their congratulations.

By the time this column hits newsstands, hopefully I too will be celebrating.

Why not now, you might ask?

Allow me to explain.

May 17: I traveled to New York for the commencement ceremony at Marist College in Poughkeepsie. I met the students whom I conversed with online as colleagues for the past two years. The celebration was premature, as one course still remained.

July 1: The college distributed an announcement that I finished my degree in communication. I was surprised by the number of people who saw my picture when the announcement ran in the paper and offered congratulations. But I knew I still had work to do.

July 16: I finished the last of my classes, completing a research project on communication, culture and aging.

But I am still not done.

You see, the college made the announcement to newspapers without clarifying that even after finishing all the course work, a final test remains.

The dates I selected were Aug. 9 and Aug. 10. The exam consists of writing a paper roughly 20 pages long within a 30-hour window of time. I do not know what the topic is until the exam opens. When the paper is submitted, it will be reviewed by two people who determine if I pass or fail.

So it is obvious why I am not jumping up and down yet. But by the time this newspaper is printed, I should in a state of blissful celebration. Either that or I will be dozing behind a keyboard.

The complexity of school-work tends to grow gradually over time. Students start by learning the sounds and the numbers. The numbers become addition problems, and the sounds become grammar rules.

Eventually, we are writing extravagant thesis papers over a pot of coffee.

Not to worry, though. The assignments may get bigger, but so do the rewards. It is what keeps people growing intellectually, academically, and for some, financially.

Even when I am finished with school, the learning will continue. After all, my degree would grow stale without a breath of fresh knowledge to revive it every once in a while.

With or without a degree in hand, I hope everyone stays open-minded to new information throughout their lives.

Eventually, the human race can solve the most complex of world problems.

Chrystal Doucette is the Columbia Basin Herald health and education reporter. Noting her lengthy homework assignments, no one is surprised by her obsession with coffee.