So I finally got that piece of paper on June 9th (last Thursday) after almost 5 years of attending the Harvard Extension School
at night to pursue a Masters in Extension Studies in Information
Technology (or ALM IT). I actually completed all 10 required courses
within the first 1 1/2 years of the program (3 years ago) but I
procrastinated for another 3 years before I finally got my act together
and wrote the thesis, which is required in order to graduate from the
program.
I was delightfully impressed with Harvard commencement,
which I found it to be very colorful and entertaining. To Siobhan's
chagrin, I have always appeared apathetic to the Masters program at the
Harvard Extension School. I finally realized (or affirmed) why I felt
this way during my commencement last week. My apathy stems from the
fact that I hardly know anyone in the program. I have nothing or nobody
at Harvard to identify myself with. The social dynamics and community
engagement, in my opinion, are weak since most students are working
professionals who attend the school part time during evenings. I am
hoping that my current academic experience at MIT will be different
from that of Harvard. In the end, I am glad I made it through the
program. 