Pomp and Circumstance

Friday May 22nd, Dustin graduated from Cal State Fullerton's credential program with a single subject credential to teach Spanish. He had graduated with his Bachelors in Spanish last August and chose not to walk in the commencement ceremonies, but since no cap and gown purchase was required for this graduation, he figured it wouldn't be so bad. So we went. Jason and I had an interesting time sitting about 2/3 of the way back in the non-stadium seating. It was impossible to see anything, and almost impossible to hear which group of credential student they were on. But while they took a LONG time to get through all the multiple subject credential students, Jason entertained all the crowd around us. It never ceases to amaze me just how adorable this kid is, and it feels pretty validating to have complete strangers come up with awe in their eyes and just gush over how beautiful and fun he is. It's good to know I'm not just biased. :-)

Fortunately for me though, most the families of the multiple subject graduates were disrespectful and left once their student was done. It disrupts the ceremony, but it frees up seats closer to the front. So Jason and I were able to sneak up and watch as Dustin got his credential (or at least the folder with CSUF logo on it that is meant to symbolize the actual document which he'll get mailed some time in the future). He had his hands in the air cheering for himself like he had just finished a marathon and took first place. And rightly so. Dustin's schooling has seemed like a marathon; he has been taking classes every semester, even summers, in order to complete. We are so proud of him for finishing this race! Now the next task will be getting a job. We have one district in Queen Creek AZ that he's interviewed twice with, but we're still waiting to hear back from them. Other than that, we're just looking for places to apply. So if you know of a high school needing a VERY well qualified Spanish teacher, give us a holler.

The happy Hemsath family

Jason congratulates Daddy with a kiss.

Dustin and David, a fellow LDS credential student who just got accepted to teach English at the same high school in Queen Creek that Dustin is waiting to hear back from.

Our "Superman" with Amanda and another friend from the credential program.

Jason and Mommy waiting for daddy's name to be called.

After the ceremony we went to celebrate at Outback Steakhouse. It was our friend Ryan's birthday as well, so we got the gang together, and even though we reserved it for 7:30 a few days in advance and showed up early the night of and still weren't seated until 8:30, they gave us some complimentary Bloomin' onions, so we were fine with that. So here we are with the Nielsen, Cox, Sepulveda, Liu and Jacobsen families. Hooray for good friends and good food!