That's it - I am now officially a grownup. And unemployed, but that's not important right now...
I am of course referring to the fact that I graduated last week, and can now give my name an appendage: BSc (Hons). All of those Vistaprint leaflets for offers on headed paper and business cards are finally going to come in handy!
Rather than it being just about the graduation ceremony itself, it is turned into a whole day that feels uniquely British. My first piece of advice to any future graduates reading this is that you have to be prepared to queue - a lot. First of all to pick up your robes, then for professional photos, collecting tickets, to get into the ceremony, during the ceremony, to get out of the ceremony, to return your robes and finally to retrieve your 'parchment'... It makes a very strong case for wearing more sensible shoes, as I'm sure a few of my colleagues will testify.
As I mentioned, the first task for the day was to pick up the robes. Despite filling in a form with your height on, it was pretty much a case of one size fits all - and as if we didn't feel silly enough with the oversized gown, we also had to figure out how to put the hoods on before the never-ending round of photoshoots began...
The first official photograph of the day was of our teaching group (Genetics and Human Genetics) - the four of us adjudged to be the shortest sat on the front row with the lecturers, whilst everyone else had to stand on the steps behind us. We were all pleasantly surprised about which lecturers were joining us: Jeremy Lakey, Carys Watts, Trevor Jowett, Nick Morris and Simon Whitehall. Anyone who knows Sarah Noble will be aware of which one of those she was most excited about!
After a lunch break away from the circus, although not too far as I was still wearing my robes, we started queuing for our individual photos in which we were allowed to wear a mortar board. Apparently the reason why we're not given them for the whole day is that the robemakers aren't keen on fishing them out of the Tyne afterwards... I didn't hugely enjoy this photo as I had to pose for it; I'm all for pulling a silly face, or smiling for the camera, but a proper pose is not my cup of tea. To add insult to injury, in the picture I had with my parents my mum had to stand on a step - so it appears that she's taller than me when she isn't!
Yet more queuing ensued, but come 4 o'clock just about everyone was settled in Kings' Hall. After thinking it was "all a bit Harry Potter" for most of the day, the ceremony itself seemed more like the initiation process for a cult... It works a little like this:
- The audience stands as the academic procession enters the room, led by a man holding a mace. Everyone tries their best not to laugh.
- The audience is seated, whilst we (the graduands) try not to sit on each other's gowns.
- The ceremony is officially 'opened'.
- With the direction of some steward-type people, we begin filing to the front (starting with the back row) - annoyingly we have to approach via the side with little space.
- Applause after each name.
- When it's your turn - walk over to the Hooding Marshal (who's very tall), turn to face the audience as you are 'hooded', shake the Chancellor's hand and return to your seat.
- Once everyone's finished, there is a brief speech from the Chancellor (Sir Liam Donaldson).
- The academic procession leaves as it arrives, before we are also led out row-by-row.
It's as simple as that. Nobody tripped up, we didn't actually join a cult (no funny handshake was the giveaway) and it all took less than an hour. If only the whole day could be as straightforward! As was mentioned in the closing speech, the ceremony is a bit of an odd one - "it starts by being garrotted with a hood, and ends with a handshake".
After the ceremony we had a lovely drinks reception (champagne and strawberries), although this was the time that everyone managed to lose each other. It was a bit of an anticlimax really; the ceremony finishes and everyone disappeared off in different directions...
But to finish, I'd like to go back to the ceremony, and what was going through my mind as we were waiting in line. If I'm honest I don't remember too much of my part, but what I can recall is just how proud I was of my amazing coursemates when their names were read out. We've all done brilliantly to get this far, here's hoping for the future!
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