Doctoral Robes…and a Violin
Donation protected
I am asking you, strangers, to buy me a graduation present: my doctoral robes for the PhD in Greek and Latin philology. As an academic in the humanities, I am not afraid to ask strangers for money to fund my work. The cultivation of beauty for the sake of one's civilization requires a sacrifice, and yields no easily quantifiable monetary profit. So we ask professionals, businessmen, and philanthropists to fit the bill to enrich our culture.
Herff Jones is the only officially licensed vendor for academic regalia for my university. As I am nearing the completion of my dissertation (as of July 23rd, 2015, I am more than halfway through the last chapter!), I have looked, out of curiosity, at the price for the robes I would wear at my graduation ceremony, and twice per year as a university professor through the rest of my career. For these garments (robes, hood, and cap), Herff Jones quoted me a price of about $750.
I am a married father of four children (9, 5, 2, and 9 months). I will turn 32 next week. I have supported my family on my salary alone. Often, especially in the last five years, I have worked as many as five different jobs so that my wife, who is an excellent teacher, could have her dream job—raising and educating her own children, and even founding a school of her own. Now I have a single, full-time job that is enough to keep us above water, bear the occasional $500 car repairs, &c., but not to spend nearly $1,000 on one suit of clothes that I can't even wear to work.
So I thought, "Could it hurt to ask the internet?"
The rest of the money is for a violin. I have long loved the sound of the violin, fancied the romantic notion of being like Sherlock Holmes, and convinced myself that if I ever finished my PhD, which I have spent seven years working towards, I would want to buy a violin and learn to play it. I figure that if I can write a 250-page book on a highly-specialized topic that only about two dozen people in the whole world will fully appreciate—writing it all only in the times off from my high school teaching job—then I can learn to play the violin. After a little shopping around, it looks like $750 would be enough for a decent beginner's instrument and all the necessary appurtenances.
The photo is of me looking out at sunset toward the waters of the Corinthian Gulf, from the slopes of Mount Parnassus at the town of Delphi, the sacred precinct of Apollo where the god of prophecy has been worshipped for 6,000 years. I was blessed with the opportunity to take some students there recently. See a photo of the robes here: https://thebestthingireadtoday.wordpress.com/2015/07/23/buy-my-phd-robes-and-a-violin/
Thanks!
Herff Jones is the only officially licensed vendor for academic regalia for my university. As I am nearing the completion of my dissertation (as of July 23rd, 2015, I am more than halfway through the last chapter!), I have looked, out of curiosity, at the price for the robes I would wear at my graduation ceremony, and twice per year as a university professor through the rest of my career. For these garments (robes, hood, and cap), Herff Jones quoted me a price of about $750.
I am a married father of four children (9, 5, 2, and 9 months). I will turn 32 next week. I have supported my family on my salary alone. Often, especially in the last five years, I have worked as many as five different jobs so that my wife, who is an excellent teacher, could have her dream job—raising and educating her own children, and even founding a school of her own. Now I have a single, full-time job that is enough to keep us above water, bear the occasional $500 car repairs, &c., but not to spend nearly $1,000 on one suit of clothes that I can't even wear to work.
So I thought, "Could it hurt to ask the internet?"
The rest of the money is for a violin. I have long loved the sound of the violin, fancied the romantic notion of being like Sherlock Holmes, and convinced myself that if I ever finished my PhD, which I have spent seven years working towards, I would want to buy a violin and learn to play it. I figure that if I can write a 250-page book on a highly-specialized topic that only about two dozen people in the whole world will fully appreciate—writing it all only in the times off from my high school teaching job—then I can learn to play the violin. After a little shopping around, it looks like $750 would be enough for a decent beginner's instrument and all the necessary appurtenances.
The photo is of me looking out at sunset toward the waters of the Corinthian Gulf, from the slopes of Mount Parnassus at the town of Delphi, the sacred precinct of Apollo where the god of prophecy has been worshipped for 6,000 years. I was blessed with the opportunity to take some students there recently. See a photo of the robes here: https://thebestthingireadtoday.wordpress.com/2015/07/23/buy-my-phd-robes-and-a-violin/
Thanks!
Organizer
Lionel Yaceczko
Organizer
Laurel, MD
