... Now we're here.

In comparison to my last three blog posts, I'm going to be a little more serious.

Cheesy blog post about Graduation 2013 begins in three, two, one:

*Cue Gaudeamus Igitur*

Rocking that red hood.

 I'm an absolute softie when it comes to moments of feeling immense pride. I blame the years of The Lion King conditioning therapy I went through as a child. I'm sure it hit all my sensitive spots, because whenever I sing the national anthem or attend a protest I believe in, I get all tearful. Just the other day, I heard Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaking in a news bulletin and I got all weepy. I'm slightly pathetic when it comes to moments of deep pride. So next time you see me at a rugby match, for your entertainment you can watch me well up with tears.

In my grad ceremony, I had to contain myself as I started to flick through the Awards, Scholarships, Bursaries and Prizes booklet. It was amazing to see how many names I recognised. I was completely taken aback by the number of people I knew who achieved noteworthy success at Rhodes. I was so proud of my friends and classmates who had accomplished so much more than what was expected of them. My mom immediately said to me, "So, what happened to you?"  I asked myself the exact same thing.

But we all have our own successes. Although my name was not next to a prize, I still got my degree. I had reached an all important stepping stone in my life and I'm proud of that. And for others who also had a single mention in the Graduation booklet, we can't forget the effort they put in. For some being capped and hooded means so much. So to all the graduates who fought through financial issues, personal problems such as a death in the family, or simply needed to work harder at passing than anyone else, don't ever think what you achieved on that stage was anything less than a great accomplishment. Celebrate your success and always remember you walked across that stage because of what you did.

Come Saturday afternoon when the Garden Party was over, I was a little sad. Martin and I were walking back to his car when he asked me if I had enjoyed my Grad. I felt a little bit like my 8 year-old self the evening of Christmas Day: it was all over. Granted, I still had Grad Ball later that night, but it couldn't compare to the other events of the day. I was sad that I'd be leaving Grahamstown the next day after all the exciting ceremonies and parties that lit up that sleepy little town after Easter vac. I think this sombre mood had a lot to do with me falling in love with my grad gown and hood. I wanted to take it home and swoosh around in Joburg with my academic attire - again, just like my 8 year-old self on Christmas day with my new roller blades.

So in the spirit of reaching one's goals and being able to say "I made it", this track from Drake was a grad theme tune my classmate Mina suggested: