Where are my lightsabers?

May the Fourth be with you, young Padawan. *bows* It’s Star Wars day every 4th of May. Today is no exception.

Hello, I’m Georgie and I’m tired. I also had my graduation ceremony today to receive my Bachelor of Arts in Communication. As I type this sentence mid-yawn as my eyes are shut and watering and my fingers bear a life of their own, I look back on today – eventful.

It began at 5:30am when I woke up to Houdini playing on my phone. Perhaps it’s time to change my alarm tone, but I’m far too lazy. I’ve been waking up really early for the past few days, trying to get used to it, as well as sleeping earlier, just to shift my body clock a little. I’m often tired when I get home from work, and it’s too late to do much, so I think it would be a good idea to sleep not long after I get home and have an early, productive morning.

I went to work this morning. I love work; hey. I was supposed to get my graduation robe and hat some 90 minutes before the actual ceremony. I left work at 1:00pm. I was actually intending to come back after the ceremony. We weren’t allowed to take a bag in anyway, so I left most of my stuff at work and just took my camera and phone and wallet. I took my work keys as well, just in case I came back to the office and no one was in.

I met Seb at the front of the main university building. I was surprised to see so many people there already; some with their guests and some without. I didn’t really dress up so much. I mean, for one thing, why wear something fancy when you’re graduating? My mum had a point; she suggested I wear a collared blouse and a skirt and work shoes so I would be wearing something that looked like I was going to work. After seeing some people graduate several years ago and describing the way they dress to my mum, she actually said it was rather inappropriate to “dress up”. Anyway… I agreed with her. My parents didn’t come until much later but I sort of wished they had come a little earlier.

Graduating Georgie!
Me with my mum and dad :3
Me with James and my dad

The ceremony wasn’t as boring as I thought it would be. I thought it’d be boring to sit through all the names and wait for my turn, but because it was all very organised and you had to slowly get up and line up in the wings of the Great Hall, it seemed like most of the time was taken up by standing and shuffling forward in line as the names were read out. I guess it also depended whether your name was called out near the beginning or the end. My name was somewhere in the middle, and I kept an eye out for people I knew before I had to get up and line up with the other people in my row.

The Great Hall was recently refurbished. The inside was amazing, like being inside a little theatre. The seats were pretty close together, but the place felt cosy without being uncomfortable. I’m surprised a good half-a-thousand people fit in there, because it seemed so small. I think the most beautiful part of the Hall was the ceiling; decorated with rigid asymmetrical tetrahedrons. It was like being inside of a geometric icicle cave.

It was all very organised and representatives in the wings made sure we looked presentable before we went on stage; that our square hats (I should call them their proper names, but it’s cute to call it a square hat) were not crooked, and that our robes were sitting nicely on our shoulders. Once we acknowledged the Dean as he called our names out, we’d shake hands with the chancellor, have our photo taken quickly, exit the stage and collect our testamur – which basically consisted of our wonderful certificate and report and other information.

me and the chancellor 8D

It was like receiving dreaded school reports without the dread factor, perhaps. I actually found it interesting watching the names being called out and all the graduates walking across the stage and being acknowledged. It was all very exciting. I wish they’d given us custom coloured lightsabers simply because it was Star Wars Day…

My parents and James ended up sitting at the back, but we still got some photos before and after the ceremony. Woo. Afterwards we were invited for refreshments and food… there were some very delicious plain croissants and buns with cheese and tomato/ham.

:D mum and dad <3

I was actually looking forward to going back to work. My mum insisted I get my certificate and my photo with the chancellor framed, so we did just that. She said it was an opportunity I may not get again, so I might as well. :P I will be graduating from my postgraduate course at some point, so one day I’ll wear the robe and hat again and walk on that stage again. XD

To celebrate, James and I had dinner at the same Italian place we went to a couple of weeks ago. The one with the awesome pizza. This time we had pizza with olives and anchovies, and potato pizza. The potato pizza was delicious, it was like having potato bake on pizza – Spanish onions, shallots, sour cream – the lot. /drool

Potato pizza :3
nom nom nom

Comments on this post

Wooo! You know, it was slightly better than expected hahah. At least I kinda enjoyed it (food was good, yay!) The Great Hall really looked amazing, much better than what it looked like when we started uni.

I didn’t mind the ceremony too much. I kinda wish the professors had spoken a little less in my opinion. There were also a lot of students graduating, I’m amazed. I know I shouldn’t – there were two lectures for our core subjects after all, and each held hundreds of students or something?

All in all, it was pretty good haha. xD;

What on Earth are your parents looking at in these pictures? Certainly not the camera! Anyway, your mum is very pretty (and looks young, as you said) and of course you look wonderful and very happy. :D

Your funny robes are different from ours and possibly even more funny. :P Ours close in the front with a zipper so they cover our whole bodies, basically. And then only some students have the funny coloured things like yours; I haven’t figured out who gets those, but my mom thinks they’re only for doctoral students. We also get a different-coloured tassle (the thing on the cap) based on our majors. It’s all so complicated, hah.

Aaaanyway, I’m so happy for you (and a li’l bit jealous, man. You’ll graduate your masters before I finish my damn four-year BA degree). I might also be jealous of you because of that pizza. IT LOOKS SO GOOD.

/heart

Ahh, you look so smart! 😝 Your mum looks very glamorous. /faw And I love James always has a big grin on his face. :D But your dad looks a bit confused! /oh XD 👏

HI WU…oops.

It’s ‘Padawan’. Just throwing that out there. ngege
you looked very nice /love. That ceremony sure went by fast! :B
and your dad would just chew the stuff out of the croissants and throw the rest away hahahahhaa. how nurg! /bounce
I actually quite enjoyed that speech at the end. That was good. It really showed his experience as a speaker to..engage an audience like that. Anyway I bet the engineering speech will not be as captivating. /th

The panels on the ceiling are both for decoration and to scatter echoes /eee . It’s why they were also partially perforated

Man that potato pizza was gooooooood. The other one, in my opinion was a tad too salty /sweat. I should’ve gone for a chicken one or something, but I really am fond of mushrooms on pizza D:

I had a VERY deep sleep; its only 7 am. But i did want to read your blog about the Long Day /bounce

(Y) breakfast tyme! talk to you later /love

Oh and also, the URL to this blog in your twitter ends in zbOOBZ. Nurg!

Congratulations! You now officially have your BA! :D

And I agree with Rachel – what are your parents looking at? they look really silly. The fact that they’re like that in not one, but ALL of the pictures makes them look even sillier.

In the US, people usually wear collared shirts and skirts or slacks underneath their graduation robes. Anything that is nicer than t-shirts and jeans is generally acceptable, but some people do go all-out and put on dresses and suit-pants.

That pizza looks delicious. Now I wish that I weren’t trying to be so healthy all the time. At least I have not seen potato pizza in LA yet, so I am safe! :P

So you’re probably gonna get onto me for this, BUT… Your graduation outfit looks a lot like the Sailor Moon outfits. :P Very cute, though. >.>

Your parents are looking at something like it’s weird… Or something. I don’t know. :P They don’t smile, though. o.O

Congratulations on the BA! :D

Haha well there were quite a few photos, they were probably tired of smiling. I think I was smiling too much.

You’re right, it does look like a Sailor Moon outfit! Not that I mind, haha. I really liked Sailor Moon when I was younger. :’)

The orange capes come in other colours, but it depends on what you studied. Education is green, engineering is red, and so on…

Haha. :P That’s still pretty cool. :) And lucky you for your name being in the middle. xD Mine was at my high school graduation, but as soon as they started with the names everyone was like, “Ohmygosh! This is going too fast!”, and then they were done in barely twenty minutes.

But you actually got to get a picture of you shaking hands whilst on stage; they pushed us off and didn’t let us have that. :P

Was your graduation rushed?

And yes, I watched it when I was young, too. :p

Congrats on the graduation ceremony. :D How may more years of schooling do you have left?

Pretty soon, you’ll be living on your own, doing your own thing and wont have to listen to anyone. :D

Congratulations, Georgina! (that’s what you’re supposed to say to someone who has just graduated, right? /bash )
In the past few months, I’ve noticed the absence of your name on my windows messenger list which was unusual for me because I would be so used to seeing your name online at like 2am in the morning while I’m doing my assignments last minute. Your robe looks really freaking awesome. And those hats are pretty cute.

I’ve never actually seen the Great Hall. I went to UTS last year in November for an excursion for my computers class. It’s a nice place and I thought it would be crowded but it wasn’t. We were taught basic, valid HTML which was boring for me (funnily enough, I think you were the one who inspired me to learn how to validate a website and stuff).

Omg that pizza looks delicious. 🤤 Where did you guys eat? There’s this nice Italian place with great pizza and delicious carbonara in Newtown (I forgot the name but it’s right next to the university village things) and a long time ago I had pizza at this Macchiato Pizza Bar thing (I think it’s on Pitt Street) and it sort of looks like the pizza in your picture!

THERE IS SUCH THING AS POTATO PIZZA?
My life will be complete once I try it.
Those are two of my favourite things!
Please tell me where you ate so I can complete my life!

♥

DLFKG!!! Girl I miss you so much. I forgot to add you to my new MSN, so I did. You’ll know it’s me. ;) Sorry we’ve been out of touch – looks like it’s totally my fault there. D:

I can’t remember when the Great Hall was redone, but this year’s graduation ceremonies are the first to be held there – so it must have been completed after September last year. Ceremonies are held in May and September, if I remember correctly. When I was in year ten I had a UTS computer excursion too!

We ate at Mammas, which is sort of in upper-Haymarket. Near the comic book store, if you know it! You and I need to meet up some time haha.

Also your blog is showing a malware according to my antivirus. I’ll try and get rid of it, haha. ♥ ♥

First, I have a question. How come you guys have your graduation ceremonies in mid-autumn? My friend from Newcastle graduated about three weeks ago, even though the semester ended last November. My high school graduation was at the end of June, and it was on an extremely hot day. My shoes literally melted, I’m not kidding. I say that every time I talk about graduation because the memory is burned into my brain, aha.

I don’t understand why your mum would think it’s inappropriate to dress up. Well of course you shouldn’t wear a cocktail dress underneath but I don’t see what’s wrong with dressing up. I actually bought a new dress for my graduation, and it wasn’t formal. Although, no one actually saw it because my (ugly) blue gown was covering it. So lucky that university students get black gowns.

My high school graduation was four hours of speeches by the class president, valedictorian, and salutatorian. I’ve been hearing that university graduations don’t have all that. Good, because I don’t think I’d be able to go through it again. It’s enough to go through the names of every graduate. We call them caps (caps and gowns!) though it might be different over there.

And you don’t look like either parent, haha.

It’s just the season in which it occurs. Different universities have different graduation times. Ours just happens to be in late April/early May. We finish around November as well. Some people study in sessions rather than semesters (like a January session). The ceremonies happen twice a year but at times that are somewhat convenient to the organisers and staff, considering the different class times.

You should have seen the girls in party heels and coloured dresses at my graduation ceremony. That’s all I’m saying on that point. :P

Actually, I should have called it a cap, haha. Thankfully we had some interesting speeches and they definitely didn’t go for that long. To be honest, listening to the names and clapping for everyone was not a bother. :D

Oooh Georgie! 👏 Congratulations for finally making it! Woah, waiting in line for your name to be called is considerably boring. I’m actually worried about myself, because my surname starts with the letter “Y”. LOL. Congratulations again! ?

Congrats on graduating Georgie! :-) I’m so happy for you!
(Lol just a random thought but you’ve graduated but I’ve not even started university life. I’ve got three different offers and I know where I want to go but I can’t confirm my decision yet because my mother reckons I should appeal to another course.)

And you look so smart wearing your cap and gown! I love the colours of your gown anyway. My brothers’ gowns were blue and yellow. The pictures with your parents remind me of my own parents, somehow, by the way! My parents never seem to look at the camera when we’re taking photos!

And omg the pizzas are making me hungry. They look so good!

Aw you look so cute in your graduation gear! XD In all of the photos, your mum and dad have the same expressions :P

HAHA Star Wars day! That’s amazing! Lightsabers would of been pretty cool :P

I love croissants, they’re great to eat for breakfast and/or lunch, warmed up with jam and butter. Mmm…. /eee

My last name is Smith, so when I attend University and *fingers crossed* graduate, I’ll be waiting at the end of a VERY long line. /hmph

Congrats on graduating from College. You look very pretty, I am glad to hear that everything went well, and I did not know that May 4th was Star Wars day. :P

Congratulations! You look so smart in your robe!

Your mum is gorgeous! She looks so young.

Congratulations on your graduation! You and your family are very beautiful people. Man, I mean to tell my husband “May the Fourth be with him” but I totally forgot. I’m really not a Star Wars nerd like everyone else.

Oh my goodness! Congrats! ;D You look gorgeous!

Yeah, Star Wars Day is pretty awesome. I got to make funny jokes and such all day long. Pretty awesome.

Congrats to you! ^__^

Seeing you in the grad gown reminds me when I was in one for my high school graduation. I actually wore my sister’s gown, despite the color difference between the new gowns which a lot of people wore, but I didn’t care because I saved myself some money. :P I remember being quite nervous, but also wanting it to be over with so I could go home and celebrate that fact that I no longer had to be around high schoolers, especially the young ones. Ugh.

And dang those pizzas look good! I’ve been wanting to make my own lately using a crust that’s already baked and made for you. All I’d have to do is buy whatever toppings I want and plop it in the oven.

Ooh, congratulations! :D Your graduation gown is really cute on you. I was expecting something kind of stuffier, but it’s actually pretty nice.

Happy (belated) Star Wars Day :) Being the massive dork I am, I carried my lightsaber around school and spoke like Yoda. That sounds even dorkier in writing :)

Hope everything’s going well with you <3

Heyy! I’m not sure if you might remember me or not, but ah, I can remember your blog from years ago – from when I last had a blog!
I’m impressed that you are still around. and a huge congrats on finishing the degree!!! x

YAY for you. You’re looking so grown up and wonderful :) Did you get the graduation bear?
Your Mum looks so sophisticated and VERY serious … You’re a very pretty girl and congratulations on your degree ♥

Congrats on your graduation. You look great~ (Y) Pizza looks really good too. I am now hungry. Hahah XD

CONGRATULATIONS!!! (Y)

I really like your graduation robes. That bit of red-orange breaks up the otherwise boring black robes. I wish my graduation robes were like that. Mine were just those boring ones. My only consolation were the ropes I got for societies I joined. At least that helped my robes look less boring.

Aww, Georgie, mum, and dad! :D Your mum’s totally rocking those shoes! Great job, Georgie’s mum! :P She’s looking rather stylish.

Those pizzas look amazing! I’d love to go to a legit pizza place that’s not Pizza Hut. I’ll have to do a search and see if there are any restaurants like that near me.