I was talking to Marisa a couple of weeks ago about the possibility of getting her the degree she so much deserves.

I’m a dissertation away from a Ph.D. and would already have it if I hadn’t discovered that somebody else had already written in great detail about my thesis, which I had developed into almost two chapters when I found that other book.  Of course, those were the days when good old fashioned library research was the only seriously acceptable way to go.

Between feeling like I had wasted several months reinventing the wheel, my mother’s death, and my father’s stroke, I just never got back into it, and now, since more than seven years have passed (the school’s limit) and the fact that many of the people on my committee have moved on (my dissertation director was at Princeton the last I heard), it would be back to square one for me.  Frankly, I’m just not nearly motivated enough at this point in my life to get that final sheepskin.

Marisa, though, should go for it.  With the advent of online education, she could probably qualify for most of the core classes by simply testing out of them, and depending upon the major she might choose, she could easily ace those as well.  Also, many of the classes are self-paced, and even if she would have to “enroll,” I know she could whip through them in no time at all.  I would love to see the look on her face when she puts that document into a frame and hangs it proudly on her wall.

As far as I’m concerned, she’s already earned the degree.  Now all she  needs is the physical proof.  Go get it, Girl!