Master Kelly

Introducing the newly crowned Kelly, B.S., M.A.!!

For the past two years my little sister has been working her booty off writing paper after paper, taking test and after test and studying more hours than I’ve probably studied my whole life. She put her heart and soul into an 80 page thesis with a title that I’m not even sure I could pronounce (or even being to understand). She’s had to turn down invitations for free meals, nights out, and even impromptu vacations, just to spend countless hours grading papers as a TA. She’s given this program everything she’s had and FINALLY she has the little piece of paper to prove it was all worth it.

Today my sister graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Master of the Arts in Anthropology and I, for one, could not be more proud.

Kelly rocks, there’s no doubt about that. When I graduated from FSU, the last thing I wanted to do was continue with more school. I was burnt out and ready for a change. Kelly, on the other hand, couldn’t wait to move on. She started school with a desire to get into business, then psychology, and finally found her calling with anthropology. That calling was really a passion, a passion that beamed every time she spoke of early cultures, man, and evolution. It was also one that landed her in the graduate program at UCF and brought her to graduation day a short two years after she began.

If only we could all be so lucky to find something we’re so passionate about.

Congrats Kelly! You’ve earned it!

Today was a big day for our family. Obviously. There was talks of doing a big lunch before the 2:00pm commencement ceremony, but a big dinner sounded more appealing and easier to coordinate. For lunch we kept it easy and make a pit stop at the Hummus House on our way to the arena.

The Hummus House is a local version of Pita Pit, only with a greater emphasis on, well, hummus.

Kelly and I decided to split the Falafel Pita.

Complete with falafel, hummus, tomato, cucumber,spinach, olives, banana peppers, and a tzatziki dressing.

Yum.

With bellies full of good food, we were ready to do this thing.

Graduation time!

It was a PACKED house. Looks like Kelly wasn’t the only excited to graduate. I would say an eighth of the crowd were doctorate candidates, a quarter were graduating with their masters, and the rest were walking for their bachelors. Add up all those numbers (plus 5 tickets a graduate) and every seat was full.

Let’s play ‘Where’s Kelly?’

Can you spot her?

Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. You are our future. Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Oh, look! It’s Kelly’s turn!

(This is the part where we shout very loudly and annoy the people around us. )

Only one million and fifty-five more graduates to go! Good thing they did the master students first.

We waited it out with M&Ms

And taking funny photos.

In all honesty, the ceremony wasn’t too long. UCF did a great job keeping it short and sweet. Only 3 hours and no speeches longer than 10 minutes. I’d say that equals commencement success.

And it was all worth it to see Kelly’s smiling face at the end.

Who’s ready to blow this joint?

We made a pit stop at Kelly’s on the way to dinner (to let the dogs out) and I grabbed a handful of peanuts to calm my grumbling belly.

We kept dinner casual (comfy clothes all the way!) and selected Shipyard Emporium as our restaurant of choice.

I enjoyed a delicious Coffee Amber Beer (an in house brew, which tasted just like coffee!)

The table split some hummus and artichoke dip.

The hummus was my favorite. It was rich and creamy with just a hint of garlic – enough for flavor, but not enough to make you need a piece of gum after every bite.

The last time I was here I was disappointed by my order (the BBQ Chicken Flatbread), but found myself drooling over everyone else’s. This time I learned my lesson and ordered something that had me licking my lips before.

The Chevre Salad with Grilled Chicken Breast was an excellent choice.

I scraped the goat cheese off the bread and smeared it all over the salad. It acted as a rich, creamy dressing that worked well with the grilled vegetables. The chicken was added to amp up the protein profile of the salad. More protein = more filling.

Despite only be 9:00, I am more than ready to crash. It’s been a long day. A good day, but a long one.

Good Night!