After a short period of more blog neglect I have come back as an official by-the-book English graduate. On the 15th November 2013, my fellow classmates and I braved the stage for all of about 4 seconds to shake a couple of hands and enjoy a short round of applause in celebration of passing our degrees. The whole day was a ridiculous concept of spending outrageous amounts of money on a silly costume and having ten thousand of exactly the same photograph taken, but I had so much fun.
My parents came up late morning with a classy bottle of champagne which we opened once we were all dolled up. After finally being given the perfect excuse to spend money on new foundation, good tights and one hell of a beautiful pair of shoes, I transformed myself into the perfect young lady complete with well painted nails and false eyelashes. I'm not exactly the most girly girl in the whole world, but when the mood strikes, it's nice to act like a princess. Once we'd arrived in town we found Sophie and our families were introduced for the first time, which was pretty adorable. Mr & Mrs Franek meet Mr & Mrs Gallagher. One step closer to our big day. We then started on the queueing to get our robes et al. It was crazy bumping into people that I'd met over the past three years, from new friends that I only met this year, to people I'd come across in my first couple of weeks then barely seen over the rest of the course.
The ceremony itself took place in Sheffield City Hall, which is quite beautiful inside. I've been once before for a Joan Baez show, but it wasn't how I remembered. A string quartet played as we entered and formalities were made, before the parade of Humanities graduates began their route across the stage. Again, it was really strange watching people graduate, thosee I had made friends with, met on the odd night out, work with now and even a girl who had hated me briefly over an ex. It wasn't particularly exciting, but still a pretty big occasion. Whether I do another degree in the future or not, this will always be my first. Flicking through the program sent a little shiver down my spine as I glanced over names of those who didn't come along. A shame, but perhaps for the best, the day was emotional and nostalgic enough without being further reminded how much my life has changed in the past month or so.
A meal at Cafe Rouge with my family, followed more photographs, catch ups and cuddles with my friends. We got another bottle of champagne and ate like royalty before hitting The Frog and Parrot for more post graduation fun. Sophie came along to join the family, and I introduced them all to Jack, a new friend. Everybody got along swimmingly and I really had a moment of, my life is pretty damn fantastic. After I'd returned my parents back to the flat and they headed home, I re-joined Sophie, Jack and Liam and we all drank a little too much at the Great Gatsby. Lots of dancing and giggles masked the very small amount of drama and I had the most wonderful evening with my closest friends and family.
Two days after graduation I worked my last shift at The Punchbowl, my pub job that I've had through the last two years of university. I drank behind the bar, finally fulfilled my dream of jumping over the bar, and gave away free drinks - it was the perfect end to an excellent run at an excellent pub. I'll be having farewell drinks with the locals on the 30th so I didn't get too emotional, but the combination of these two major happenings really has sent me into an "end of an era" overdrive. I just have to try my very hardest to embrace it.
ps. Thank you to my new bloglovin followers - I'm back on the game now, I'm sure of it.
