So the day finally arrived and I had the PhD graduation ceremony.
I wasn't going to attend but my family wanted me to go (and with everything happening at home, it was nice to have something good to celebrate!).
Mom, Dad and I travelled up to Preston on Friday morning in torrential down pour. The motorway was a nightmare. Once we arrived and recovered, we headed to the Guild hall to pick up my gown and hat, and for the professional photos, and for Dad to take his photos with his snazzy camera. :-)
Once all the was done, we went to lunch with Katherine and Tricia, me trying very hard to look cool and casual and fit in walking around St. Georges. :-)
Lunch was lovely (at Raffles - Yum!). Then it was back into the rain (which was running down the streets like a river) and my very large umbrella (still got wet) and off to the Guild Hall.
Now, after graduating from the Great hall in Birmingham, it was a bit of a let down. Really not as impressive. I was sat on the back row which was fine by me. And I got lucky. The people I was sitting next to were awesome. On my left was an engineering masters student who was already in his first year of a PhD elsewhere. On my right was a girl from computing who has also finished her PhD. We had a really good laugh at some of the speeches and how different the views of the people on stage were to the the people who actually went through the courses.
After the ceremony (where I am glad to say I made it safely up and down the stairs though I wasn't sure when to go up the stairs at first - they read out your thesis title; I had forgotten mine was that long!), we headed back to the hotel for a break and a cuppa.
On the evening, mom, dad, Katherine and I went to Duk for a really nice meal (and few bottles of wine!). The food was really nice and they were really helpful as always (especially with Katherine who has food allergies but not normal ones). Then it was off to the Studio for dancing. Well, more sitting as I haven't danced in so long, I don't know any of the current dances. Plus I found dancing after the equivalent of a bottle of wine is harder than it seems. Normal dancing is fine, but when you have to go in the same direction and at the same time as everyone else, it's not so easy! Still it was a great night.
And a pretty good day, (especially since I was dreading it!)
:-)
I wasn't going to attend but my family wanted me to go (and with everything happening at home, it was nice to have something good to celebrate!).
Mom, Dad and I travelled up to Preston on Friday morning in torrential down pour. The motorway was a nightmare. Once we arrived and recovered, we headed to the Guild hall to pick up my gown and hat, and for the professional photos, and for Dad to take his photos with his snazzy camera. :-)
Once all the was done, we went to lunch with Katherine and Tricia, me trying very hard to look cool and casual and fit in walking around St. Georges. :-)
Lunch was lovely (at Raffles - Yum!). Then it was back into the rain (which was running down the streets like a river) and my very large umbrella (still got wet) and off to the Guild Hall.
Now, after graduating from the Great hall in Birmingham, it was a bit of a let down. Really not as impressive. I was sat on the back row which was fine by me. And I got lucky. The people I was sitting next to were awesome. On my left was an engineering masters student who was already in his first year of a PhD elsewhere. On my right was a girl from computing who has also finished her PhD. We had a really good laugh at some of the speeches and how different the views of the people on stage were to the the people who actually went through the courses.
After the ceremony (where I am glad to say I made it safely up and down the stairs though I wasn't sure when to go up the stairs at first - they read out your thesis title; I had forgotten mine was that long!), we headed back to the hotel for a break and a cuppa.
On the evening, mom, dad, Katherine and I went to Duk for a really nice meal (and few bottles of wine!). The food was really nice and they were really helpful as always (especially with Katherine who has food allergies but not normal ones). Then it was off to the Studio for dancing. Well, more sitting as I haven't danced in so long, I don't know any of the current dances. Plus I found dancing after the equivalent of a bottle of wine is harder than it seems. Normal dancing is fine, but when you have to go in the same direction and at the same time as everyone else, it's not so easy! Still it was a great night.
And a pretty good day, (especially since I was dreading it!)
:-)
 |
| Very pleased and relieved! |
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