And Then There Were None.

I finished competency #14 last night with a minimum of fanfare. It was pretty much "oh shit, I'm done" and that was all. Somehow it felt rather anti-climatic - when I thought I would be running into the street singing the Hallelujah chorus with a bottle of champagne in my hand, I had some profiteroles and fell asleep on the sofa.

Something in me just isn't that excited about it. Of course, in my amateur attempt to psychoanalyze myself, I've come up with several theories, none of which made me feel any better. Really, what I think it boils down to is that although I'm close to having my degree, nothing is going to magically change overnight once I'm finished. I'll get my hood and go back to the same job the next day. It's not like getting my Bachelors and completely starting over. But I'm 30, not 21, and having the option to keep making a decent living until the perfect thing comes along is a great comfort.

I also am the type of personal to downplay achievements, which may be a surprise considering the fact that I love to be the center of attention in general. But I'm very quiet about my education because I don't ever want to throw it in anyone's face. I just happen to have found something that I wanted to get another degree in, and had the chance to do it. It doesn't make me special or smarter, and in my office I'm constantly reminded that pieces of paper mean nothing if you can't DO something with the knowledge, because few of the great minds around me have a degree.

And I've now proven to SJSU, or at least my adviser, that I can DO something with library science. I'm not quite finished, though - I still have to describe my professional philosophy and come up with a career plan, both of which I might steal from the text of a chat with Miss NPW this morning, because dude - she's funny.

But for now, I just need to step back a few paces, get a little distance from the whole thing, and maybe wait until my heart stops beating irregularly. If that ever happens.

14 competencies in under 9 weeks. Quite an accomplishment, if I do say so myself.

And tonight we celebrate with RIBS. I really know how to party.