This post is part of the online initiative Reverb10. You can find all of my Reverb10 posts here.
December 9 – Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans.
2010 is the year I finished university. In Germany we don’t usually have graduation ceremonies. The university doesn’t organize anything. In fact, you simply get your diploma by picking it up at the examination office or in the mail. Yes, in the mail. However, some departments choose to do a function for graduates to celebrate their diplomas. Luckily the English Department did; the Spanish Department didn’t do anything, though (I majored in both). It’s still nowhere near as big a deal as a graduation ceremony in the US but it is nice just to do something to celebrate.
My graduation ceremony took place in June, when I was not done yet with all of my final exams. I had no idea what to expect going there, and I was not sure how to dress. I decided to go with a nice dress, but was a little worried I might be overdressed. As it turns out, I wasn’t, because everyone dressed really well, except for a few who came in jeans and must have felt terribly underdressed. We didn’t receive diplomas then, because it is not the English Department handing out the diplomas but the examination office.
It was such a nice experience. So festive with everyone dressed up, the choir singing, and in the gorgeous old auditorium of the university. One of my best friends came with me. It was great to have this event for us to celebrate and be proud of our achievement, to make our graduation a little more special.
Graduation 2010 from Karen on Vimeo.
What an amazing memory… and wow, it looks like Hogwarts! :)
I’m always amazed at the variety of celebration people have for high school and college graduations. I know people who go all out just for high school graduations, with huge backyard celebrations and wild parties.
Looks impressive! It’s so nice that your English department organises this.
At our uni each faculty gets to decide what they do and how and what and where. Fortunately our department gets the use of the old academy building and each student who graduates gets their own personal ceremony. It makes it such a nice experience.