The wondrous day of Graduation
20.07.06, 10:40 am
I�ve been up since 6:15 am and am just starting to crash. More on that later though, because it�s time for the entry you�ve all been waiting for: graduation photos entry and accompanying assessment of The Big Day.
I went down to Uni at about half twelve in my lovely �smart clothing�, and met Lisa who was on her lunch break from work. Paddy then arrived two minutes later, and we went up to the Food Court to get robed up � you actually a get a little person who puts your robes on for you. My particular colours were green for Sheffield Uni, apricot (read: gold) for Pure Science, and I got (fake) fur on my hood for passing with honours. The robes weighed an absolute TON � felt like I had an entire baby seal on my back - and I was dying of heat exhaustion after about three minutes. Sunshine is lovely usually, but I was just dripping the entire day and it was not pleasant.
There we go, that�s me just after I got robed up. Not the most glamorous of locations, i.e. outside the toilets of the Food Court. Robes are also not the most flattering of garments, and make everyone look decidedly fat.
Me and Paddy, standing on the steps with the concourse and Union behind and below us. Our hats kept mashing together, which is what I�m laughing about.
Told by Lisa to do a �excited-about-to-graduate pose�, which apparently translates as �flail arms and show every single one of teeth�.We went and talked to various people off my course, and then I did the long awaited meeting of Paddy�s parents. They�re both lovely, and I think they really liked me, and� I dunno. Me and Paddy couldn�t have felt more like a couple if we�d tried � I spent the entire time up to when we had to go in for the ceremony with his parents, as my dad and gran turned up at the last minute like usual, and I could tell that Paddy was really enjoying me being there. It�s the usual bittersweet thing that always happens with me and Paddy now, and I�m trying not to think about it. Or at least only think about the good side, i.e. we had a fantastic time and our friendship�s still amazing. Anyway, my dad finally did turn up and met me in Coffee Revolution, and I tried to go say hello to my gran before the ceremony but couldn�t find her in time � my dad�s fantastic advice: �I�ve left her in the shade somewhere!�. Needless to say, I checked all shady spots but she eluded me.
Totally LOVE this photo. Me, Paddy and Amy posing on the grass by the Union. I love how my robes are already looking slightly dishevelled.
Inside the Octagon Centre. I could sit and work out exactly where I�m sat but even I have better things to do with my time. I�m on the far side somewhere, sat with the rest of my tutor group.
Me shaking hands with the Vice-Chancellor and receiving my degree. I was the worst person ever for keeping my robes straight; they insisted on going wonky or slipping off my shoulder roughly every five minutes. My lovely straight hood�s after Paddy, Stuart, Lizzie and the woman at the side of the stage had all had a go at straightening them. The ceremony actually wasn�t as boring/long as I thought it�d be. I got to sit with Stuart on one side and Lizzie on the other, with Paddy then next to her, which was pretty cool organisation-wise. We had to clap every single person though, which took the piss a little, and I�ve realised that there are just too many people in my department. Ooh, I sang along to the National Anthem! Only because everyone else in my line was, but still. And Paddy heckled both Amy and Ella when they got their degrees, but not me thankfully as he was only two places behind me in the line. You can apparently buy a DVD of the entire ceremony for �40. That�s all of yours Christmas presents sorted.
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Me and my dad outside the Octagon Centre. I was so sweaty and gross by now, but miraculously didn�t smell even slightly. Check the bunting � graduation�s a C.E.L.E.B.R.A.T.I.O.N.After the ceremony I posed for several thousand more photos � swear I�ve never done so much photo posing in my life, Paddy�s parents took about 20 � and then we went out for a meal with Lisa, before dropping my gran back at the station. Pretty successful day all round, I think, and I apparently look better in my robes than my sister did.
Yesterday was spent recovering, as graduating completely exhausted me, and I finally bought a house phone. We also rang BT last night and ordered some t�Internet, which is getting activated on the 2nd August. God, I seriously cannot wait. It�s a sad state of affairs, but I can�t function without the net. And then last night both Suzy and Linda were up, as Suzy graduated yesterday, and we had a very sophisticated evening of eating take-away and drinking Netto wine in front of Big Brother and The Man With 80 Wives.
And so the reason I was up at 6:15 this morning was because Linda had to drive back to Nottingham for work and got up at six, and so Lisa got up with her, and as Suzy was kipping in the living room on the sofa and I sleep incredibly lightly these days we all had a mass get-up. It�s okay, I�m planning on having a sleep after lunch, especially as Becky�s arriving tonight (graduating tomorrow) and will no doubt expect me to talk to her. Both her and Mel are then staying Friday night, as Friday night�s when we�re seeing Beauty and the Beast at the theatre. I just, just about have a social life at the moment. Go team me!
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