Thankful Thursday - Last Class Tonight!

I can't believe it! Tonight is my very last class. I have to give a presentation, which isn't that big of a deal for me now, listen to everyone else's presentation, then I'm done for good! It's really hard to imagine this being my very last class after 12 years of grade school, 3 years of undergrad, and 7 as a graduate student. Wow.
I won't be done with the semester yet, not until I finish my final and write my last paper - so I should be done by next week.
I was supposed to have 1 more class left over the summer. I have the same masters and Ph.D. program, so by now I've run out of classes to take and I had to do a couple independent research classes. I had one left that I was going to take last summer but with everything that happened I didn't get registered (it was good for a break). So, I still have it left to do over the summer and I've been dreading it. I proposed to write a white paper on performance improvement techniques, but I just don't feel like doing anymore school work. Ever. I'm so done with being in school!
As I was packing up my office last week getting ready to move to my new job (on a new floor), I found a certificate for this class I attended at work. It's an industry standard certificate and they offered to write a letter to the school for credit. For whatever reason I didn't do it then. When I found it I quickly called my major professor and he agreed to count it! So though I have to register and pay for the class, I won't actually have to do anything else. So, after I turn in that last paper and take the final (it's so rare at this level to have to take a final exam) I will be actually done with all of my classes. I'm so ready for that and I'm looking forward to the summer without any coursework!
I still will have some work to do before I graduate. They say this is the hardest part. Most of them don't work full-time and have 4 kids to take care of, so attending classes isn't hard for them. We'll see. I have to take my comprehensive exams in the fall, which involves 2 weeks of writing papers, then orally defend them. Once that's done I have to propose my dissertation, which involevs writing the first 2/3s of it and presenting it to my faculty committee in this formal meeting/presentation thing (I've already written it), then I can formally do the research and finish my dissertation before defending it with my committee. I'm hoping to have all that done by next Spring, but in reality I probably won't get it done until next Summer just because these things take time. Then, by next summer I'll hopefully be able to finish for good and do the whole graduation ceremony thing. I'm really looking forward to that.
And a good vacation!