Graduation and Thesis

Last week two important events happened for the east coast branch of the Northen family. On Saturday, May 14, Maya graduated from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. She now has her Masters degree in International Business. Luckily, the predicted rain held off and the weather stayed sunny through the ceremony. The campus was beautiful. The only dark clouds that appeared on the horizon were when Maya ran into a snafu picking up her diploma. I’m sure she’ll be glad to tell you about that some time. It had a happy ending.

Two days later Eli had his thesis presentation for his Masters degree down at the University of Maryland. For his thesis he designed a sustainable wine center for Charlottesville, Virginia. The presentation took place in the school of architecture where architects from Maryland and Washington, D.C. came in to listen to Eli’s presentation and critique his designs. To say that it provoked debate would be an understatement. As Eli was fielding questions, the dean for the school of architecture at Catholic University jumped up to the front and began point at the designs, to make a point. Architects turned around in their chairs and began arguing with each other. At one point a UMD architecture professor grabbed the demonstration wine and brought it up front where others began pouring the wine to drink. The feedback was that it was one of the most exciting theses in a long time. Certainly Eli will remember it!