And so, another stage of evolution ends.

* * * * *

Last class today. We started using a timekeeper during critiques this week, since so many stories were being turned in, and we didn't want to be there until the end of time. We gave everyone three minutes--and now we wish we'd been doing that since the beginning. Hardly anyone ever actually uses three minutes for a critique, but it can be nice for cutting down on some of the really long-winded repetitious critiques. Plus, earlier in the week we had a critique where someone went on for damn near ten minutes--picking out nit after nit. It wasn't a mean critique, but there's a limited amount of callus anyone has. So, it would have been nice to have had a timekeeper then, simply for some control.

But, live and learn. It's not like I'm ever going to do this again. Perhaps next year's class can learn from our experiences.

* * * * *

And then it was over. The last class drew to a close, and we all applauded ourselves, and then we had our graduation ceremony, complete with a tape of "Pomp and Circumstance" playing. We got diplomas, all signed by the instructors, a list of all the stories that had been written during the workshop (all 126 of them), and then we got the super-cool nifty item that would allow us into that inner circle of writers, and allow us to unravel the Secrets Of Writing. Mine is green and copper, and I'm wearing it on the third finger of my left hand.

And yes, I got a little misty. After the ceremony, we toasted each other with sparkling cider and declared that we are The Boring Clarion, and damn proud of it.

* * * * *

I helped Daniel carry his stuff down to his car. We talked about being honest-to-god Clarion Grads, and how, from now on, everything we do will be an advertisement for Clarion. We also made up cool daydreams about how, in the not-so-distant future, people will say, "You went to that Clarion?? That's the one that had all those wildly successful people in it!"

And, of course, as we walked back from the classroom to the dorm for the last time, we pondered that perhaps someday we will come back and teach the next evolution. We will look out at the class, give a small smile, and say, "So, who can tell me what happened?"