Achievements are worth celebrating.

The woman in this story just got her master’s degree, and she was expecting her family to organize a celebration. When it didn’t happen and she voiced her disappointment, her family turned on her.

Now, she’s wondering what she did wrong.

Read below to find out what exactly happened.

AITA for expecting my family to celebrate getting my master’s degree

I live in a different town than my family (2h drive).

Every time one of my parents is sick or in need of something, I pack my things and go there to help them out.

That happened this July again, and I stayed at their house for the last 3 months to help them.

Hard work can be stressful but rewarding.

I spent 3 years doing my thesis, and I’m the first in the family who got so far academically. I got the defense date for my thesis 2 days after my birthday, and I had told my family that I didn’t want to celebrate my birthday (due to the stress of the defense).

I also didn’t invite my parents or my sister to see my defense because it would add the logistics of going on a 2h drive for each town, on top of the stress of defending the thesis, and I was not emotionally capable of dealing with all of that.

So I came alone, defended my thesis, and was really happy about it.

I celebrated with my friends, and life was good.

This woman’s family called her a jerk for expecting a celebration.

I was expecting to celebrate this achievement with my family over Sunday lunch, that we would have a different meal together, my sister would come to my parents’, and that we would be together.

That didn’t happen, and I got sad about it.

I told my parents that I was sad about it because something that had such a high impact for me, they acted like it was nothing and that they were not proud of me.

Her whole family has turned on her.

Now we got into a huge fight where I was accused of being self-centered and a jerk because I was asking for a celebration and didn’t say I wanted one.

My sister is also accusing me of being a jerk because I should have invited her to my defense, and since I didn’t, it was irrelevant to celebrate this achievement.

Am I really the jerk? The fact that I was the first in the family to go far shouldn’t be enough for my family to be proud of me without me asking them to be?

Mind-reading is not this family’s strong suit.

Other people on Reddit shared their thoughts in the comments.

This person takes the family’s side.

Here are some valid arguments.

Communicate, suggests this user.

This person shares a personal opinion.

And here’s another thoughtful opinion.

If you want a celebration, ask for one.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.