Now, the laughs are on you, for I have an honorary degree from a big Canadian university, and you don't. I cannot tell you how long I have waited to be known as "Dr. Dion, Ph. D". Like "Brenda Starr, Reporter," or "Nancy Drew, Girl Detective". When you are a professional woman, it is what comes after the comma that counts.
 
I never finished high school, and this has been like a hidden scar on my beautiful body. Often at a reception of powerful people, after the introductions and the small talk, conversation would turn to serious matters. "Celine," someone would say, "I know you are beautiful and have a voice so powerful it could crush a kitten's skull, but what are the principal exports of the Benelux countries? When was the Suez Canal built?"

These questions mystified me, and I would be forced to put on that determined-little-girl look I do so well and sing "My Heart Will Go On" to change the subject.
 
But now, no longer. Now I can look people straight in the eye when they ask me who wrote Voltaire's "Candide" (It was Voltaire, silly!) and say--"My office hours are from 10 to 11 on the fifth Thursday of the month."