Finally I can mark this goal as done. I just got back from the ceremony, so excuse me if I’m a little incoherent. It’s late.
But I wanted to write a few thoughts before I went to bed. It still all seems surreal. I was fortunate enough to attend the ceremony at the Australian Parliment House. Surveying the scene from one of the giant marble staircases in the foyer was strange, a sea of Bachelor graduates in black and red. So many familiar faces, yet weirdly different all dressed up and wearing their mortar boards. It was so lovely to see everyone that it is only just sinking in now that it may have been the last time I see many of them.
One stands out in particular. She was the head of Literary Studies at the university, but far more than that—she was the heart and soul of that subject, the greatest of my lecturers and tutors, the one I will have endless respect for. It seems my last memory of her is destined to be in her formal robes, among the official party on stage. As the graduates rose to leave before everyone else, she caught my glance and smiled, an twinkle in her eye, as it almost always was. I will treasure that memory dearly.
It was also strange to see the procession of faces I knew, some more well-known to me than my own, others vaguely familiar, as each went up to accept their degree. I’m starting to feel that I’ll miss some of them very much.
Our guest speaker could have used more brevity. However, I found his main point very salient. Keep Learning. This is the beginning of your education not the end. Over the last couple of months I’ve realised how very important it is to me to keep learning. At this stage that won’t be through university, but one day I’d like to come back to do my Honours. I can’t help but wonder whether the guest speaker’s message was the spirit behind the university allowing us to keep our mortar boards.
And strangely enough, I could still feel mine on my head on the way home, even though I had taken it off and put it in my lap.
