Steve Tippins Ph.D. says most graduates skip celebrating their PhD completion before the ceremony happens. Plan an actual celebration, check ticket limits and hotel availability early, and consider a post-graduation trip like a week-long cruise to mark the achievement.
When we talk about celebrations, these can vary. It can be, "I'm going to take my partner out to dinner," or, "I'm going to have a huge party." Some people tie these in with graduation. Now, an advantage of doing that is graduation, the ceremony, is usually not the next week. It might even be 6 months later depending on timing of your finishing and when the school holds a formal graduation. If you're going to go to a formal graduation and make it a big event for you and family and friends, you you want to check to see, you know, are there limits to the number of tickets that you can get? If the graduation is held at a popular location, can we get hotel rooms? So make reservations as early as possible. I have worked with people who've gone to graduation and then headed off on a cruise for a week, you know, to really acknowledge to themselves and reward themselves for what they've done and what they've accomplished.
