After four semesters at Northwest Mississippi Community College, I had completed the curriculum required to obtain my degree. I officially graduated from NWCC on the 14th of December, 2010 with an Associate's Degree in Computer Information Systems.
I did not go to the graduation commencement for this degree. Instead, I remained focused on my studies, and continued on as if nothing ever happened. The goal all along was to graduate with a bachelor's degree, and I looked at this associate's degree as a nice bonus that I got along the way. That's not to say that I did not care about this degree, or that I did not want this degree. On the contrary, I worked hard for this degree, and even took an extra class that was not required for my bachelor's degree in order to obtain it.