University of Sunderland Graduation, 2014

So, I realise I haven't blogged in a while but I wanted to share my graduation experience.

I graduated from the University of Sunderland on July 10th, 2014 at the Stadium of Light with a first class honours degree in Business with Psychology. 

Before the ceremony I was super nervous, I'm not very comfortable being in front of a lot of people and the idea of walking across a stage (in heels, which I never wear) to collect my certificate, terrified me. Not surprisingly, I set my alarm to wake up early so that I would have time to greet the family and get ready and basically just panic. It was a full house when the family arrived; me, my boyfriend, my mum, dad and brother and my boyfriend's mum and dad all crammed into my living room while I took time out of getting ready to open my presents and cards. I got some beautiful gifts including; a Pandora bracelet and graduation charm from my boyfriend, a cute teddy and mug from my little brother and a whole host of graduation related gifts from my mum.

My beautiful graduation gifts

Once everyone was ready, we picked up the tickets and headed off to the stadium where I had to walk for what felt like miles to find the 'robing area' and photographers. Once I was all ready and had my picture taken we went to our hospitality area where we waited to be called in for seating. 

                           The ticket            Me and my boyfriend before the ceremony

After I found my seat and the stadium started filling up I was happily greeted by some of my friends who were (to my relief) sitting next to me. Once all of the students and the guests were in their seats a marshal told us all to take off our hats (we weren't yet qualified to wear them) and then ran us through what was going to happen. I was feeling a lot less nervous at this point as I found out that I was going to be crossing the stage towards the end. The ceremony was nice, it lasted around 90 minutes including the speeches etc. When it was almost my turn to go I got really nervous again, but it was over in a flash and I didn't trip or fall so I felt like it was a success!

Graduation selfies with my mum, brother and dad

Once we'd had some food at our hospitality area and I had given back my robes and hat, I ordered a DVD of the graduation for my nan to watch and my mum bought me a souvenir T-shirt, then we went back to my flat for cake. My mum had an amazing cake made for me, it was chocolate too! Later we went out for a meal for tea to celebrate.

        My souvenir T-shirt             The best cake I've ever seen

The whole day was really organised and a lot less scary than I had imagined. it was so nice for my family to come and see me graduate and I'm so happy I got a first like I wanted. For me, graduating didn't feel like the end of my university life. I was expecting it to just hit me that I'm not a student anymore and it just didn't, it still hasn't really. Nonetheless I'm happy that I had the experience! 

After graduation, I went back home for a few days to spend time with the family and then I came back to Sunderland and picked up my degree certificate (the one they give you at the ceremony isn't the real one!!)

My degree!!

I hope everyone who graduated this year had an amazing day and I wish you all the luck in the world for the future!

Thanks for reading!