Graduation!

Well, my two years of graduate school at Berkeley have ended. Last Saturday 93 classmates and I walked across the stage of Zellerbach Hall on the U.C. Berkeley Campus and received a gold and blue hood symbolizing we had completed our Masters in Social Welfare. What a feeling! Billy summarized his feelings by saying "I'm so excited to have my wife back!" to which I couldn't agree more. It has been a tough (but wonderful) couple of years and Billy has been incredibly patient with each paper, assignment, and exam that I have had to prepare.

I am leaving school with an amazing new community of dear friends, other parents-to-be, and colleagues in the field that I am grateful to have gotten to know. In addition, I am looking forward to benefiting from the many professional networks that abound coming out of this school and remaining in the area.
The most common question at graduation was of course " What is next for you?" Besides the inevitable, becoming a mom in a few months, it felt especially good to feel that so many esteemed professors, mentors and colleagues were eager to know where this path would lead me and where they could find me in the future.

Celebrating with me was my bio-dad John and my step-mom Tania who flew out from Anoka, MN and spent a nice few days with us at our house. We enjoyed our time off playing at the beach in Point Reyes, watching sunsets, touring UC Berkeley campus, and eating really well. Here are a few pictures of the last few days with John and Tania and Graduation.

The most incredibly supportive husband

Some of the women I have spent many many hours with from the
Management and Planning cohort

Dear friends, Ryan and Jesse just after the ceremony with our hoods

John, Tania and I at Point Reyes on the most beautiful sunny day

Point Reyes on the way to the light house
Me at 31 weeks

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