Last Thursday my graduation ceremony took place.
During the ceremony, we had to vow an oath and got our diplomas / Bachelor certificates. It's a very formal event, but everyone participating as speaker or moderator did a great job to make it a memorable and not too "stiff" occasion :)
At first I was actually scared that I would get scolded because of my dress. I bought it in Helsinki months before the ceremony, and I thought it should be okay. But back in Austria we soon found out that the official "dress code" for the event was "dark and elegant"... I was a bit shocked when I read this, due to my dress of choice being white... and having a print with skulls which could, on second thought, offend people or something like that. There was some discussion about too short and too bright dresses - a friend of mine has a body like a super model with incredibvly long legs so that almost every dress would be considered "too short" on her! - and in the end, I think they made too much of a fuss about this whole thing. Of course everyone knew that it's a formal event and they should dress appropriately. However, everyone put a bit of their personal style to it. Some girls dressed in simple black mini dresses and ballerinas. some just wore sandals. To me, this is rather "informal" too but it's just a matter of taste, isn't it?
During the ceremony, we had to vow an oath and got our diplomas / Bachelor certificates. It's a very formal event, but everyone participating as speaker or moderator did a great job to make it a memorable and not too "stiff" occasion :)
At first I was actually scared that I would get scolded because of my dress. I bought it in Helsinki months before the ceremony, and I thought it should be okay. But back in Austria we soon found out that the official "dress code" for the event was "dark and elegant"... I was a bit shocked when I read this, due to my dress of choice being white... and having a print with skulls which could, on second thought, offend people or something like that. There was some discussion about too short and too bright dresses - a friend of mine has a body like a super model with incredibvly long legs so that almost every dress would be considered "too short" on her! - and in the end, I think they made too much of a fuss about this whole thing. Of course everyone knew that it's a formal event and they should dress appropriately. However, everyone put a bit of their personal style to it. Some girls dressed in simple black mini dresses and ballerinas. some just wore sandals. To me, this is rather "informal" too but it's just a matter of taste, isn't it?
In the end, nobody got scolded for their outfit, and people even told me that my dress is actually very beautiful and the skulls not too noticeable anyway :)
Super overexposed! XD I'm reflective... like a glacier or something, lol
Here you can see the patterns much better :3
After the ceremony, we got together for some group photos. We also took some photos with those cool "graduation caps"! Our university has the policy that per se, they are not part of the dresscode (we only got a blue scarf with the logo of the university on it) but if everyone wants to wear it, we can. Unfortuantely we had some people in our group who were against wearing a cap, but we found a solution by simply taking some group photos with the caps after the ceremony :) My mum was really disappointed when she heard we wouldn't have caps, so she ended up surprising me by ordering a "customized" one with a small "2013" charm hanging form it, haha. I wanted to surprise her with the fact that we did end up getting caps... so in the end I got two caps XD I just hope she wasn't disappointed or something ^^"
As the places for the ceremony were limited I couldn't invite my whole family. Well, of course I couldn't invite all of them, as my closest relatives would make a group of already 30 people or so... We also had dinner that day, where I was able to invite some more people.
It was great to celebrate with my family and that day made me realize somewhat that a very stressful but also rewarding time has come to an end. With my first academic degree I have a confirmation in hands that I can achieve something, that I might, despite coming a long way, finally have found what is right for me. I will continue along this path and hope that I will be successful. I am looking forward to my next goal - a Master's degree in Molecular Biology, which I hope to achieve in the next two to three years.
~:♥:~
I would also like to thank you, my readers, for being with me during all that time. I started my blog in 2010 when I started my studies, and you have been with me through many ups and downs, especially during my internship, encouraging me, cheering for me and often giving me advice. I found many friends through blogging, and I am happy that something as simple as sharing my thoughts can bring me together with so many people. So, thank you!
