Is There a Doctor in the House
Carol Mullen Sargeant
July 1, 1996
MAY 19, 1996: CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA
IN SWELTERING 100 DEGREE HEAT, thousands of polyester-robed uva graduates wade through steamy mud, at one time the renowned University Lawn, toward row after row of sizzling metallic folding chairs. Several graduates spontaneously combust. The rest, with mortar boards askew and tassels wilting, resign themselves to the HOTTEST, SWEATIEST, MOST STULTIFYING (are you getting the point here?) graduation on record. Now graduates from each of the schools rise as their degrees are conferred. Bachelors of this. Masters of that. Doctors of this and that. My husband, Kimon, is one of those dehydrated doctoral candidates now entering the community of the educated unemployed. "Basically, I'm hoping," comments Dr. Sargeant, "that even if it doesn't improve my job prospects, this doctorate is really going to help my batting average." As a family, we've worked—really pulled together as a team—to arrive at this sweaty climax to Kimon's graduate career. It's hard to fathom, but when we began this journey into academia, we were childless. Five years, two computers, and two kids later, I drip with perspiration, tune out the requisite graduation hoopla, and remember: • Our first son's inconvenient arrival during Kimon's statistics final. • The time Jadon (17 months) "repaired" Kimon's computer by vigorously pounding it with his red plastic hammer. And when that failed to retrieve Kimon's missing dissertation chapters, how Alexi (3) drew Daddy a Pentium Processor in crayon. • Or how about the time Alexi, who has yet to comprehend fully the significance of Daddy's scholarship, came prancing into Kimon's study brandishing a stick—"This is my dissertation, Daddy!" So we all worked hard to earn that doctorate and what ...
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