I attended four graduations this year. They were all very nice and I was thrilled to be at each one. A niece and nephew graduated from high school; always exciting. My fourteen year old daughter graduated from middle school with much ridiculous pomp and circumstance - she would agree. My family listened attentively while over 500 thirteen and fourteen year olds' names were read. And I also had the privilege of sitting in the audience while my twenty-three year old daughter delivered the commencement speech at Cal State Fullerton where she received her Bachelor's degree. Her husband sat beside me and we both beamed, knowing full well the sacrifices that got her to that podium. Her father and I embraced, happy for her accomplishment and we celebrated her achievement with gifts and a barbeque.

These four graduations, while each different, marked the end of one journey and lit the way for the next. The speeches uplifting. The hugs and congrats encouraging. The lives continuing on changed forever. The Hallmark cards all said so; it must be true. I graduated from high school twenty-nine years ago. I commenced my college education at Indiana University a mere two weeks after I said good bye to high school. Barely enough time to even think about what I had achieved or confirm if I had made the right choice.

Some things can be learned in a classroom or in a workshop. Some things can be learned in a webinar. Some from an audiobook or blog. Some of the best things are learned over a cup of coffee, looking in someone's eyes. Others while watching a mother talk to her child.

My education continues today. Every single day I learn something new. Every single day I re-learn something to cement it in my brain. Every single day I seek out what I will learn tomorrow. If I could be professional student, I would be. I love the learning process and will never graduate from my life school. That would be too easy. For me, that would be giving up. Yesterday, I learned about video production and how key words can actually be embedded in the video itself to increase searchability. Tomorrow, I will learn something else. Working in technology requires it. Working with recruiters proves you can never know enough, the one standing next to you always knows more.

When I pass from this life, I will be ready for a Master's degree. I'm guessing it won't be any easier than that MBA I have been eyeing for years. And I'm hoping for different terms on my student loan. I just hope they play Pomp and Circumstance at my funeral, but not by the middle school band. Make it sound like Tusk by USC, please.