Ethan's Thesis Defense Invitation

At AVS the seniors put together a panel of advisers to help them prepare for the next stage that the student plans to go onto after graduation. As part of the process every senior writes a formal thesis in which he/she explains what he/she has learned about him/herself and how he/she has taken responsibility to prepare him/herself to be an effective adult in the larger community. Each potential graduate works through several drafts of his/her paper. In April the potential candidate has a special event, the Thesis Defense. A week before everyone in the community, along with all of the assembly members and board of trustees receives a copy of the thesis defense. On the Thesis Defense night the student gives a presentation which includes an oral version (often slightly different from the written thesis) of his/her thesis. Some students also include personal items which may include tokens that represent his/her life. For one student it was a gallery style showing of some of his photographs. For another student that included the presentation of a one act play she wrote, directed and performed in. Some presentations are a bit more simple. After the presentation there is an open question and answer session where the student defenses him/herself and the assertion that he/she is ready to go onto the next step. Ethan's defense is coming up soon and he has been working very hard. The process has surely been one of his most important projects to date. He has learned so much about himself and the potential that he has when he applies himself. I am sure it will be a well attended event. A simple email is usually sent out, but I, being the graphic artist that I am, could not let this opportunity pass by without designing a card. Thus, here it is. The real one does not have smugged out sections. This one does simply for privacy sake.

While I type this out I hear another computer in the background. My husband has it tuned to the emergency channel. Though the weather has been so beautiful in the city, it has turned dangerously dry in the mountains. At least four major fires are blazing, growing quickly. We hear the sheriff's department deputies as they try to get the people to evacuate. Many are resisting. An 80 year old man is stuck in his home several miles up the hill. Fire crews are trying to rescue him. A man with three horses has no trailer. He has to trust that the horse loving and owning community will band together and get them all out. There is a good chance that will happen, providing they can get through the road blocks. Other folks pretend to live in the threatened areas in hopes of getting a chance to see the fire up close. In one section the fire has crowned out, meaning that the fire has reached the top of the trees and can jump from tree to tree, setting each one ablaze as the wind provides easy travel arrangements. The down side of listing to the emergency channel is that you never know the outcomes of most of the stories.