Doctor (of Philosophy)

I am still not sure exactly when I became Dr. Corwin, but it was sometime between my Oral Defense on Oct. 20 and the commencement ceremony where I received my Ph.D. on Dec. 14. My mother, her sister, Kelly, and several other friends came to watch me and roughly 2,000 other students receive our diplomas. I was very touched and glad to have all of them present to celebrate this accomplishment. You can (barely) see me on slide 18 of this slide show.

The ceremony was quite long since all of the students in the University who graduated in Winter Quarter could receive their diplomas at this single ceremony. Only the Ph.D. graduates, including me, had their names called individually.

Three highlights from the ceremony stand out in my memory. One was several international students stopping when their names were read, presumably to make sure they were pronounced correctly. Another was, of course, receiving my doctoral hood, hearing my name called and receiving my diploma from President Gee. The third is a section of the commencement address that was given by Richard A. Hollingsworth, vice president for Student Life at Ohio State.

VP Hollingsworth reminded us that while we had earned our degrees, we had been given many opportunities and resources necessary to reach this point. He told us that those gifts brought much responsibility with them. He summarized the point by paraphrasing Jesus, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required" (Luke 12:48).