This is a long overdue post, given that my graduation ceremony was 3 months ago! I am told to submit my final blog post as a student blogger and I thought that there is no topic more appropriate than writing about my graduation day to close the chapter. I was pretty hyped about graduation, I browsed for my dress and heels many months before. It is all about looking good on the day for me so that the photos that I will keep for many years to come will turn out well.
27th July 2017
The day started early for me because I headed to the hairdresser to curl my hair, I don’t trust myself enough to do it on my own. It was a pretty gloomy and rainy graduation week, so I prayed hard that the British rain will spare me for one day.
A few photos to show my transformation for graduation day.
This photo was taken back in Year 2 for advertorial use and have made its way around the internet and physical media since then. It was even inappropriately used in one of the newspaper online articles, which the marketing team were furious about but I found it quite hilarious.
The ceremony for mechanical engineering is in the afternoon at 3pm and we are to go get our robe and mortarboard. Upon reaching the university, the first person I saw was Dr. Neil Stephen, the lecturer that taught the most number of modules back in the Malaysia Campus.
Although it was really windy, thankfully it didn’t rain.
Then we were ushered into Nuffield Theatre before the ceremony began. We were arranged in alphabetical order according to our engineering theme and Mechatronics happens to be almost the last, right in front of sustainable energy. So it felt like forever before I was called up on stage.
For those without tickets, they can view the live streaming in one of the nicely decorated tents.
But once on stage, everything happened so quickly and before I knew it I was exiting the stage (without tripping over in my heels, thank goodness) after shaking the vice president of UoS’s hands. For anyone who is curious about what were the words exchanged with the vice president, he asked about my plans after graduation and wish the very best for my future endeavors (It’s roughly the same for everyone else).
After the ceremony ended, we took more photos! Professional ones that will be framed and hanged on the wall in my living room were taken at the student union’s building. The USMC gang also got together to take group photos, who knows when all of us will be able together again. I honestly couldn’t have gone through this journey without them. They’ve made these 4 years such a breeze and I cannot ask for a better bunch. We only had each other back in the Malaysia campus and that made us more tightly knitted than ever and with our unique personalities, it has always been fun.
Looking back on these 4 years, so many fond memories and definitely more ups than downs.
From calculating the forces bridges can withstand, estimating the power different types of engine can produce and finding ways to improve its efficiency, programming the robot to make it knock things over, to practical issues like the sustainability of energy and advancement of electric vehicles.
A mechanical engineering master’s degree has definitely given me a better perspective of the world especially when technology is now so closely integrated into our lives. More importantly, it has taught me to always be curious about the world.
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Before I end my final blog post as a student blogger, I will like to thank everyone that has been involved in this blogging journey. Especially the marketing staff that has routinely organised our paperwork and relentlessly tried to make this website better.
Thank you, it has been a blast!