Dear Family and Friends,

It is with great pleasure that I enclose this (please excuse the necessity) form letter with my graduation annoucement. As you know, I first started college way back in the dark days of 1984, and had my share of problems. Ah, that young fool of 18, with high goals, double-majoring in Mathematics and Computer Science. Now I'm a grizzled old veteran of the scholastic scene, and after my worldly experience, I'm much more suited to the general degree of Arts and Humanities than any specialized field. Nine years! As the Grateful Dead sang, "What a long strange trip it's been." Two tries at the University of Texas, one regrouping at Central Texas College, a brief flirting with the correspondence of American Open University, and, finally, the sprint to the finish line here at Colorado State University. What's even more surprising is my current GPA. As you may know, grade point averages don't transfer when you transfer credits to a new school, so my CSU GPA only reflects the coursework I've done in residence here, and it's a 4.0. I'm afraid it's not going to stay at that stratospheric level; this last semester I took a full load of 15 credit hours while continuing to work full time, and, unfortunately, my workload precluded my being able to maintain my previous achievement. As I tell people, "Al I have to do to get the degree is to pass." It looks like I'll have As and Bs this semester, and end up with a GPA somewhere around 3.6.

After the graduation ceremony on the morning of December 18, 1993, it's good-bye to Fort Collins, and on to Richland, Washington. Some of you may not have heard yet, but Jill and I are now engaged to be married (tentative date set for Feb. 29, 1996--yes, leap day!). Jill's now working for Westinghouse-Hanford, and building a house in West Richland. I'll join her there sometime after Christmas.

What will I be doing there? What has an Arts and Humanities degree prepared me for? With this new sheepskin and my previous job experience, I hope to be able to land a job as a technical writer or editor. I'm determined to work with words in some way, and hope that I can find something that is rewarding (in more ways than one), as well as challenging. (Can you tell I've been writing job letters?) Things are booming in the Richland area, and I don't suspect that I'll be unemployed for long.

That's it for this letter. Thanks for letting me share my joy with you!