Honor Cords!

Last night, Leo and I got all dressed up and headed to the on-campus Hilton Hotel to attend an induction event. I was being added to the roles of the University of Houston chapter of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

We arrived at 6PM, and were there for nearly an hour before I finally spotted someone I knew. A nice young man named Ian Bailey, who is in the College of Technology as well and has been in several of my classes over the past year-and-a-half, was also being inducted. I introduced him to Leo, then we headed into the Conference Room for dinner.

The meal, and the service, were both surprisingly good. After a nice salad, we enjoyed a chicken breast topped with avacado and cheese, green beans, and carrots. For dessert, we were treated to a delicious cheesecake. We sat at a round table with two other students (from other colleges) and their families.

After dinner, the keynote speaker was introduced. She was a young, African-American partner in a Houston law firm, and spoke to us about pushing outside of our comfort zones in order to achieve greater things. She shared lots of stories about her transformation from a shy UH freshman to the law firm partner and about the people that influenced her along the way.

Once that was over, several special awards were handed out. Then it was time for the rest of us. We got up in groups and stood on one side of the room until our names were called. Since this was done alphabetically, I was very close to the front. When my name was called, I walked across the room, shook hands with the chapter president, and received my Honor Cords, certificate, and chapter pin.

Honor Cords! I was never really upset about not being able to attend graduation before (I will be in class in Austin) since my academic achievements will not be recognized. Even though my GPA is between 3.75 and 3.80, I will not be allowed to graduate Summa Cum Laude because I am a transfer student with less than 66 hours at UH. But now...Honor Cords! Wow, I didn't know about the honor cords!

The food was delicious, the presentation was good, and the rest of the night was not bad at all. But my absolute favorite part of the night was walking back to my chair wearing my cords and holding my certificate, and looking up and seeing the grin on my husband's face. Although there were a lot of people there being recognized for their academic achievements, this man didn't care about all of that. He was there to see just me. As always, my number one fan was there to cheer me on and share the moment with me. Now, how cool is that!