Yesterday I received my diploma. Yes, I was excited to see Doctor of Philiosophy, WAIT, WHAT? PHIL-I-OSOPHY???? I always thought you spelled Philosophy with only ONE “i.” Of course, on my diploma my degree is spelled wrong. I knew I had a bad omen when I attended the ceremony and they had written the wrong dissertation title and summary to read on my card I would hand to the person who announced our names and read our dissertation topics. Below is the famous Diploma. I find that it’s ironic that the diploma says Doctor of Philiosophy with a major in RHETORIC–you could call it the best oxymoron EVER!
What I found most disturbing is when they did not act surprised when I mentioned something was wrong with my diploma. I had to turn in a perfect dissertation to the graduate school. The margins had to be right, I proofread carefully, and tried to make the graduate school extremely happy with my work. I find it funny that not only did they make a mistake at the actual ceremony and had to correct it, but the diploma, too, was defective. Does anyone proofread before sending out diplomas? I had to proofread my dissertation and make sure it was correct. No matter the problems with lack of proofing diplomas, the graduate school and I had a good laugh. And, as my friends responded to the goof, “If it’s going to happen, it will happen to Janet.”
Doctor of Philiosophy
