Graduation

Well, that's it then. I'm now officially a graduate of the University of Sheffield.

Graduation itself took place on Wednesday, but mum and dad came up to visit on Tuesday because they were driving up from home. If all goes to plan – by which I mean finding a job up here in Sheffield – then I won't be going home as much this year, so it was really nice to see them. We had a quick tour of the town and my new flat during the day, then enjoyed a meal out in Broomhill at Buon Deli, a fantastic little Italian restaurant, in the evening.

I must confess to being quite nervous on Wednesday morning, but then that always happens before things like this. My main fear is falling over and looking like a right goon in front of everyone. This fear was increased by the acquisition of an extremely ill-fitting (too small) mortarboard hat about half an hour before the ceremony started: I was now also worried about the blasted thing falling off, which effectively barred me from moving my head more than a few degrees in any direction.

Once all that was over, the next ordeal was the inevitable photography session. I hate having my photo taken, especially when I'm wearing a silly hat and a cape, so it wasn't a present experience for me or the photographer (my mum). I couldn't get out of the garb quick enough, and was quite glad to hear they all had to be in within the next ten minutes...

So, armed with my certificate and commemorative mug, the University has booted us out into the real world. Our e-mail accounts stop working tomorrow, our NUS cards expired weeks ago, and I'm now a member of the Alumni (although not officially, they're not getting any cash out of me just yet). Cripes.