I Graduated!

So as you all know on Wednesday 7th September, I became a graduate from the University of Lincoln with an Upper Second Class Honours degree in English (pretty much English Literature)...


There's a lot of photos - you've been warned!

I graduated in one of the most beautiful buildings I've laid eyes on (in my opinion) - Lincoln Cathedral. No matter how many times I visit that Cathedral, I can never quite get over the sheer beauty of it and to graduate there was incredibly overwhelming and breathtaking. I felt privileged to graduate in the Cathedral. It has so much history behind it and has been standing for hundreds of years, it's just amazing. Not many students get to graduate somewhere so historic and beautiful as the Cathedral (barring those who've attended the two Universities in Lincoln: University of Lincoln and Bishop Grosseteste University). Most Universities seem to graduate in the city hall or another grand building so it really is an honour we have as students of Lincoln to be able to do so.

Graduation itself was incredible. Wednesday is just one huge blur. I had trouble finding my seat number as I was directed to the wrong section of the graduate seating. I ended up trying to sit with people on a different course! I quickly realised though and sat down with my course! I didn't trip - thank God! I remembered to salute when I came onto the stage (It's a Lincoln thing). I think one thing that's sticking in my head is the walk back round to my seat after collecting my certificate and doing the dreaded walk across the stage - I looked out to the crowd and just saw my family and my boyfriend sitting there smiling from ear to ear and just seeing how proud they were of me, it got me a little bit teary. I managed to hold the tears in though thank God! There were a few times over my University experience that I questioned whether I was doing the right thing, if University was for me. But seeing the look on their faces made the last three years worth it.

My parents have always supported my education and I'm incredibly grateful for that. Without their encouragement over the course of my life, I know I wouldn't be the person I am today and I wouldn't have gone to University if they didn't encourage me the way they did. I could write a dissertation  length piece alone on just how thankful I am to my parents for everything they've done for me.

Credit: University of Lincoln

I'm going to miss Lincoln. I'm glad I live an hour away so I can visit at the weekends with Kayne if we want. I'm going to miss University too, I loved it. However, as much as I'm going to miss University, my housemates and the course I studied, I am definitely ready for the next adventure in my life. Kayne and I are house hunting, we're going to start saving for a wedding once we're in a house, I will finally take my driving test and life just feels great right now. Everything seems to be falling into place just nicely and I like it. I'm imagining my future as I type this and if I'm being honest, it looks wonderful. I can put my heart and soul into my work and my blog as well which is something I'm also looking forward to doing. Over the summer I felt a bit lost and unsure of myself but now that I'm officially a graduate, I feel complete and fully able to move on to the next chapter in life.

The throwing of the mortarboards went wrong and this photo makes me giggle so much. 

I think Jade deserves a mention in this post. Living with Jade was so much fun and I loved every minute of it, being on the same course was just a bonus. It was wonderful being able to have so much in common with someone. The nights out, the hangovers, the stress, the laughs, the memories, the late nights in the library were made bearable because of her. She made my University experience so much fun and full of amazing memories. Jade's also the reason I started up my blog so I'm forever in her debt for that!

I also owe my sanity to Kayne. Having me crying down the phone to him at 4am because I'm homesick, feeling lonely or I'm panicking about a deadline. Or me ringing him because I can't sleep so he would sing to me or just talked nonsense to me, just because the sound of his voice helped me sleep. Driving to see me every weekend, or picking me up after work just so I didn't have to get the train because I have this weird thing about trains. Driving to see me at 11pm at night on a Friday even though he's been at work all day himself just because I needed to be in his arms just to help me think straight. Having me screaming at him, being an absolute bitch to him because I was stressed out and I didn't know to release the tension inside me so I just took it out on him because it was the easiest thing to do. There's so much Kayne did for me over the last three years, I can't thank him enough. I don't know many partners who would do all this for their other half. I don't think I could've done it either without his support. He always tells me to chase my dreams and I do, thanks to Kayne.

Throughout the course of Wednesday,  I reflected on my time at Lincoln. I thought about all the memories created in this beautiful little city and how much I'm going to miss it. I thought about how much I've developed as a person since freshers week in 2013, I was naive and living in my own little bubble, just venturing out into the world with no idea how I was going to survive without my parents and my boyfriend by my side. I couldn't even cook pasta before I came to University. Flash forward to three years later, I feel like I have stepped out of University much wiser and aware of the world, I feel maturer, older, educated. For the first time in my life I feel like I've achieved something that I should be proud of. I feel incredibly blessed to live in a country where as a woman, I'm entitled to an education and pursue my dreams and careers that in other parts of the world just aren't possible. I'm incredibly lucky in that sense, education should be a basic right and not a privilege - no matter the level of education, whether its secondary school, Masters, PhD or any other level of education, it's something that we should all be entitled too. I've learnt some valuable life lessons thanks to University. Lincoln will always hold a special place in my heart.

I'm going to wrap this post up now, I feel like I'm rambling a bit. So there you have it, I'm officially a graduate from the University of Lincoln, Class of 2016. I absolutely loved my time at Lincoln, if you're currently looking at Universities, please consider Lincoln - it's a University that's on the rise and you'll fall in love with the place pretty much straight away, I know I did!

Thank you for reading this very long and emotional post... I was a bit teary writing this. Be sure to follow me on social media for general chit chat or updates on the blog. I hope you enjoyed the read!

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