Saturday, August 30, 2008

Mortar boards and Convocation Robes

The anticipation of this one special day flew in a blink of an eye. I remember checking the uni’s website for updates, banking in money for the ceremony, making the necessary arrangements for function which ended in less than 3 hours!

My friends and I at long last (5 years feels like an eternity if you study in Cowboy Town uni) graduated last Sunday in a very short and sweet ceremony. For the first time this year, the convocation was broken into 2 sessions as the number of graduates has increased tremendously from the previous years.

I wished I took an individual shot of my robes coz they were huge!! I looked so funny in it, it felt like a bat suit! I spotted my family with ease as we walked to our seats. I saw three pair of hand waving furiously with huge smiles plastered on their faces; my sisters and Lil J so excited to see me. And my dearest, super energized aunt, Aunt Sugar who came armed with a video camera to capture every moment of the day.

When I stood up to sing the uni song, I actually felt quite sad. I couldn’t bring myself to sing the last verse lest the tears welled in my eyes trickle down my face. I looked upon the choir group and smiled. Here are a bunch of juniors, singing their heart out and wearing the uniform I fondly remember. I was in the first choir group to officiate the white blouses, black skirts and ribbons.

I have witnessed 3 convocation ceremonies, seeing my seniors walk up with pride and such joy on their faces. But being the one going up on stage is worlds apart from seeing everything at the stands. The six seconds of fame, receiving my scroll from Tun Mahathir were defining moments of my life. Every step I took brought me to another milestone in my life, I’m officially a graduate.

The day was filled with mixed emotions. I’m really proud to have made it, to reach the end of the road. All the studying (and copying also, must give credit lah), staying up till the wee hours of the morning completing our thesis, projects, endless reports ect. was truly worth all the blood, sweat and tears. Getting to convocation had been a most interesting journey where an 18 year old girl grew up to be a mature adult just stepping into the corporate world. I really grew up, made loads of friends I will keep for life, a solid foundation for work and am stronger, wiser, better.

Here are some memories of the special 24th August 2008.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

congrates!

Did you guys throw up the hat as high as you can? (and then start worrying which one is yours when the hats land later)

Crabbed!! said...

Omedetou...
I don't have to tell you what it means do I?

Yeah, did you throw your hats when you guys were done? or do that only exist in American movies??

Now that you have graduated, the working world now welcome you with open arms....along with proud parents who can't stop talking about their kids. Good luck with the Japanese smile...it works magic.

RaY said...

congratulations kulvinderrrr!!!!!
gotta feel great wearing the robe.

i wonder how you lepas fluid mechanics?
having an aweful lot of trouble with that.

good luck in the working world!

Ohkulala said...

michael yip & crapped: Yeah, we did throw our mortar boards high into the air and then scurrying around looking for our respective mortar boards. but it was damn cun coz i've always wanted to do that.

ray: wearing the robes was freaking hot, i was literally melting in it. thank god the air conditioning in the hall was good.
fluid mech is a matter of understanding, some memorising and loads of practise for application. thanks!

yuhhui said...

Congrats! Finally finish studying eh! I can't wait for that moment to arrive for me. hehe. but for you.. everything is gonna be a new experience! hello work and hello.. family! =)

Simon Seow said...

Congrats. Now go to work then we can go makan-makan.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations KUL~

Anonymous said...

congrats~~luckily u din melt in ur robe, hehe.. i almost did, but then dun care-lah, once in a lifetime ma, rite? melt pun melt la..

but, one thing that i had learned the hard way after graduating is.. i miss my uni friends terribly..i din realize how much dependent i was on them until now.. i wonder when can meet them back since they're all scattered over the country.. so, appreciate everything everytime everywhere ^^

enjoy ya!

Johnny Ong said...

congrats on yr graduation!!!

Ohkulala said...

yuh hui: your time will come soon enough. doing medicine will take a few years for you but trust me, it will be all worth it. and time really flies, you would only realise it when you're at the end of the road.

simon: yeah, jom go makan!

mei ying: thanks dear~

sakura: oh, i did melt in my robes and so did my make-up. my face was oily and sweaty. yucks.

yeah, i do miss my friends too.and most of them are posted so far away - miri, bintulu & kerteh, meeting up is really tough unless they come down to KL for business trips. and unlike students, we no longer have allocated holidays to go for vacations and lepaking together anymore. but we'll learn to adjust and make new friends.

johnny ong: thank you :)

Anonymous said...

he he , i think they threw their hats mile high .