Daddy McD, Ph. D

Check out that hood!!

Where did all of your money go Mom and Dad?? All your kids are graduates!!

The whole family!!

The official graduate!!

Getting "hooded"

Look at all those graduates. Hard to believe that was me 6 months ago!

Processing into the ceremony...

It was beautifully decorated for Christmas!

Today was a very special day for my dad. I know he has been anticipating this day for a long time now! We celebrated with him as he officially received his Ph. D in Rhetoric and Philosophy at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He has been diligently working for almost 4 years (most of time he held a full-time job as well) to complete this prestegious degree. His official thesis and dissertation as listed in the program was Presence and Voice: Understanding the Tensions Over the American Church's Rhetorical Relationship to Its Culture Through the Writings of Origen, Chrysostom, and Augustine. HOLY COW! (Don't really know what much of that means...) He is one smart cookie, and we were all very excited to celebrate and rejoice with him.

We got up super early to drive to Pittsburgh and arrive at the Baccalaureate on time. It was a beautiful service and was perfect for this season. After that, we were quickly on our way to the Polumbo Center where the graduation ceremony was held. The commencement ceremony wasn't very long (only 2 hours), but it was very nice. The campus pastor closed the service with an appropriate prayer saying, "Bless us as we go in peace, and Lord, please give all of the new graduates a really good job. That pays well. Thank you." Everyone chuckled.

I am really proud of my dad. He is so smart and loves to learn, grasp, and teach others about material that is very difficult to understand. I know that whatever he pursues next in his career, he will be utterly successful.