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If you’re a friend or someone close to me, this isn’t a that big of a secret. However, I’m sure some of you maybe surprised.  I’ve been holding on to a secret for almost 20 years.  It’s not something I’m proud of.  Yet, it’s not something I’m extremely embarrassed about either.  There have never been any substantial barriers to eradicating this little secret, well other than me.  I have had the best of intentions to address it.  I’ve made half hearted attempts in the past to take care of it but didn’t.

My secret is, I don’t have a college degree.  I left school in 1995, 3 credit hours shy of graduation. I recall after the graduation ceremony, (you were allowed to participate in graduation with your class if you were less than 6 credit hours from graduation) my mom saying to me. “Why didn’t you finish before you walked.  You’ll never go back.” In many ways she was right.

Not having my degree hasn’t hurt my career.  I’ve been blessed to be fairly successful in my career to date.  Not having my degree has been a blemish more than anything else. It has been a constant reminder that I haven’t finished something I started.  It has been an albatross around my neck. Anytime I update my resume, I’m hit with the painful reminder that I haven’t finished school. My resume reads “Attended, The University of Colorado” Ugh, I hate writing that. What makes it worse is I finished paying tens of thousands of dollars in school loans before I’ve actually received my degree.

HOWEVER, today I can say my Mom is right no longer.  The blemish has been cleaned away.  The albatross has been lifted. I now officially have my BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado Boulder.  I couldn’t be more excited. It is an awesome feeling.  Now if you will excuse me while I go update my resume and LinkedIn. They aren’t correct and I’d hate to be accused of falsifying my resume.

There is nothing like adding a check to the list of life’s accomplishments, even if it doesn’t go as planned.  CHECK!