Did you think this would be an erotica? Sorry, journal entry!

As a teen, when I saw Summa cum laude and Magna cum laude, I couldn’t help but laugh. Ok, they still make me giggle! Every time my Master’s degree earning aunt said she graduated Summa cum laude I repressed my laugh, remembering she was referring to some kind of honors, not her orgasms.

When I got my AA, my BA, and credentials, I did not care about getting straight A’s. I wanted to finish so I could start my career, start making money, and be done with homework.

Getting my Masters this past year I had the wisdom of experience from being an adult and mom, plus knowing transcripts are seen by employers. Plainly, I wanted straight A’s.

One semester in, an email arrived informing me I was on track to graduate cum laude. After internally thinking “cum loudly!” I looked up what cum laude meant.

Cum Laude: With Honor.
Magna Cum Laude: With Great Honor. Scholars define magna cum laude meaning With Great Praise. Usually it means you had the second best grades.
Summa Cum Laude: Most define summa cum laude as With Highest Praise, and the summa cum laude definition is With Highest Honor. It usually means highest grades.
Graduating With Honors Requirements: Cum laude grade point averages: gpa for cum laude – 3.5 to 3.7; gpa for magna cum laude – 3.8 to 3.9; gpa for summa cum laude – 4.0+.

Turns out my aunt had a right to be proud. She ended up running a Montessori school before moving on the writing Montessori curriculum for the country. Talk about big shoes to fill!

After 12 straight months of hard work and sacrifice, I got an A on my Thesis this week, an A on my capstone class, and a 4.0 for my masters program. Straight A’s. Graduating Summa Cum Laude in December!

But, I still plan to smile thinking about what the phrase sounds like…