(Post copied from pointlessoverthinking.com)

Hello!

This is me in the picture. It is from this Wednesday. I had three graduation ceremonies and one celebration this way. I am finally no longer a student (ever in my life, probably), ever since I started school.

I had a crazy week. I am moving for work soon, so I went apartment-hunting last weekend and this early week (hence the lack of a post from me last week). I used the apps but also walked for hours and hours in the streets to find an apartment. I had heard that Santa Barbara is a hard place to rent apartments in, but I did not expect this level of difficulty. But eventually it worked out and now I have a place to move to.

Right after I came back to Los Angeles from Santa Barbara, graduation ceremonies started. The first one was the hooding ceremony, which is a ceremony only for PhD students. PhD graduates are hooded by their advisor to signify their achievement in completing the program. The photo is from after that ceremony. Then we had a main ceremony and a diploma ceremony on Friday, followed by a reception.

Crazy week! But it is the week that signifies to me most clearly the end of an era in my life and the start of a totally new era. The ceremonies signify the end. The apartment situation signifies the beginning of the next. Oh, and also I got approved to start work earlier than initially planned this week too. So, that is again a sign for my new life. So, I am trying to process a lot of things at the same time but I am definitely very excited.

This post essentially does not have a point other than being weekly report of what happened to me. But it was a very important week for me, so I wanted to share with you all. Take care!