Five years ago this week I graduated from the
University of St Andrews with a M.A (Hons) International Relations - Social Anthropology. Yes, that's St Andrews and not Hogwarts like the picture suggests! ;) Amazingly, I managed to achieve that awesome jump on only the second attempt. That's
talent for you.
That photo is the only photo I actually like from the graduation day as I didn't have time to get my hair just right, which is one of those silly things that can annoy a girl. All my smiles seem just a little bit too forced, but how many photos do we honestly need to remember an event? I think this one sums up my graduation splendidly!
The ceremony is somewhat scary for a girl wearing heels as it involves kneeling down, in your robe, to be tapped on the head (capped) with a 14th Century piece of cloth or, should I say, John Knox's breeches. Aaaah, St Andrews. The really horrid part is standing back up again and ensuring that you don't trip up over your gown when you step back up to bow, before sauntering off the stage to get your degree scroll from a little table, out of sight.
Having spent four years in St Andrews and knowing its odd weather - once I wore just jeans and a tee one very mild December and I've also sunbathed there in a bikini in February - it shouldn't have surprised me that it was the weirdest weather that June. It tipped it down with rain and there was a ghastly fog that hung over the town. It did manage to keep bright for my graduation ceremony, but all-in-all it was a pretty miserable week.
In between my final exams and graduation I was hanging out in the Caribbean with my best friend so I really felt that weather. By the end of the graduation week I had a dreadful cold and at the graduation ball looked bleary-eyed, not from drinking - nothing but soft drinks passed my lips that night - but because of the tiredness and cold medicine.
Still, at least I liked my hair that night. x
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