Graduation Day

Good afternoon!

Just to update you I had my graduation ceremony the other day, and I actually think it was one of the best days of my life. It wasn’t what I expected it to be in a way, because at the start of first year I thought we’d all be graduating together, but some friends have left uni, others will be graduating later and others now live abroad!

I have to say that the ceremony itself felt really strange, firstly because I didn’t know what to expect, and secondly because sitting there in those robes on what seemed like a very grand occasion didn’t feel very related to panic mode ‘night before’ essay writing, results days, house viewings, 9am lectures, consoling friends over break ups, learning to cook, or the banter of the Chaplaincy, SU, and nights out we all shared together.

Having said that, I never felt so proud of myself that day, and having all our hard work acknowledged was so so worth all the stress of the last three years which have hands down been the best of my life. It sounds kind of cheesy but I went to uni as a teenage girl and left as a young woman ready to pursue a career goal.

 One of the most poignant moments of the day for me was when my Dad said how proud he was of me and even got a bit teary which I did not expect, given that he never really took a great interest in my academic achievements, even telling me an RS degree was a bad idea at A Level, but I think I changed his mind ;)

I‘m so glad I went to the ceremony because I might never see some of those people again, but I certainly know who I’m going to stay in touch with. I’ve made friends for life, and I bloody love you lot. Thanks so much for really being there for me, laughing at as well as with me, and providing serious memories! Also, it wouldn’t have been the same without Rosie there, I’m so glad she came!

After the ceremony and photography my family went for some drinks at Nation of Shopkeepers then joined up with Emily’s family for a meal together at Giraffe and then went home to number 29 (aka Houseparty HQ of the last 6 months – why IS it always at ours?!), then after some tunage and alcohol consumage went out to Call Lane followed by Revs, where I somehow lost my phone due to my great skills in life.

So a few days later and we have the pictures, and I have a shiny new phone. Rosie is dying of some kind of airborne disease and is in a quarantined environment, plenty of Subways have been consumed, and I’m off to my Grandma and Grandad’s for the last Thursday tea before schools break up.

For anyone interested, I resumed my usual behaviour after the formalities concluded...

That may explain why I lost my phone then.... Why are my family proud of me again?!

Oops! Congrats to everyone else who also graduated, turns out we're a bit clever after all.

Thanks for reading!

PS. This is my lovely family. Also thanks to James at Sugarbird Photography for doing mine and Em's photos. He's on Facey so check him out if you like the photos (obvs not included the demented one of me because that one is definitely not a quality snapshot!).