Let me start off by saying that nothing in my life is typical. Why would I expect my graduation to be normal?
As some of you may now, for the last 15 months I’ve been working on earning my Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing (BSN).
In order to get more tuition reimbursement money from my hospital, I would need to submit my final project in 2019, to show on my transcripts that I was still working on the program in the new calendar year. My plan was to leave off two sections of my project, knowing that it would be returned to be with things to change, and then re-submit in January. Sounds good, right?
I submitted my partial assignment a couple of days before Thanksgiving, which meant that I had no homework weighing on my mind during our Thanksgiving meal. On Black Friday (Nov. 23rd) I received a notification saying that my final project has passed. That was SO not the plan! The school was saying that I was ready for graduation, the financial department had already closed out my account, and things seemed like they were already wrapped up.
None of my instructors/mentors had ever encountered this problem before, which did little to make me feel better. My options were to cut my losses and run, not getting my tuition reimbursement, or have the school reopen my account somehow. Really, though, the fact that no one knew how to fix the problem is what worried me.
To cover my own butt, I emailed the powers-that-be with the school and explained my situation, stating that I was bringing this to their attention so that it didn’t come back to bite me in the future. I had no idea if this would help, but I didn’t want anyone coming back and saying that I hid something from the school.
Just over a week later I heard back from the school. They said that they were going to let my passing grade stand, since the financial department had already closed things out, and that they were replying to my email so that I would have something on record, just in case (so thoughtful).
So… yeah, I officially graduated with my BSN on Dec. 3rd, 2018. Yay me 🙂
P.S. – People (lookin’ at you, Ashley) keep asking if I’m going to go on and get my Masters. Um, not any time soon, thanks. I think I’m done with school for a while!
A Special Strength 