Wouldn't it be nice...if everything was celebrated like this!

This is quite a special post because for me it is one of a kind and never to be repeated topic! It is a post about my graduation day. I graduated from the University of Kent yesterday (12th July 2012) with a BA (Hons) Drama and English & American Literature degree, and it truly was an amazing day.

We were all up bright and early for the day and we couldn't believe our luck with the weather; it has been on-off thunder storms for most of the week but for the majority of the day on which I graduated it was gloriously sunny! This made the day, which was already a fantastic one, even better. I was also incredibly lucky as I got to graduate in Canterbury Cathedral because of the university I attended which made it all even more special for me.

So here are some pictures from the day that I thought I would share. For those outside of the UK who don't know, here we don't have graduations below university level; we only have them on the completion of a degree so it's a very important, significant, and often one of a kind, day.

(Me on the steps outside the cape and gown collection area)

(Canterbury Cathedral, where the ceremony took place, in the background)

(Walking through the Cathedral grounds to register)

(In the cloisters before the ceremony)

(Having just received my degree in the Cathedral)

(A glass of celebratory champagne with lunch)

The cape and gown I wore is specific to the University of Kent and the degree that I completed. The hood worn over the cape is silver, to denote that I was receiving a Bachelor's level degree, and the centre triangle was yellow which denotes the faculty which in my case was Humanities. That is the academic address for my university but other than that we were required to wear smart dress. The dress I wore was a floral peplum pencil dress from River Island that I bought in the sale for a bargin price of only £25! Then my shoes are my go to, fail safe, black lace court shoes that I bought from ASOS about 3 years ago.

It really was an amazing day. The ceremony itself was very formal but was so grand with a wonderful amount of pomp as it was in the Cathedral! It took place on the fourth day of ceremonies and was the first of three on the day itself. There were over 300 people graduating during my ceremony and I was number 123 to go up, shake the Chancellor of the University's hand, and receive my degree. Also John Lloyd CBE, received an honorary Doctor of Arts in recognition of his contribution to broadcasting and he made a fantastic and hilarious speech. The whole day really was quite surreal though. We all worked incredibly hard for a minimum of three years towards this one day and I couldn't quite believe I was finally there. It was thoroughly enjoyable though, something amazing to cross of my '21 Before 22' list, and it is wonderful to finally be able to say that I am now officially a graduate.

Bye for now:)

xxxxx