During the last three weeks the Bachelor and Master graduation ceremonies took place. They were held at the beautiful academie gebouw (academic building) in the heart of Utrecht, right next to the Dom. There were small-scale ceremonies each night and I was happy to hear that I had mine on one evening together with some of my closest friends.
Already a
couple of weeks before the actual event we had to hand in our CV, a short
description of our thesis and some personal information on which the individual
speeches would be based.
On the day
itself I was quite excited about the evening, since my parents and my grandma
would come from Germany and my grandma has never been in Utrecht so far. Also
two of my best friends from my Bachelor studies, who continued their Masters in
different countries, came back. Therefore I am glad that USE is one of the
fewer faculties that actually still offer traditional evening ceremonies at one
of the most beautiful locations that the University has to offer.
On the
evening we first got our cap and gowns and had to line up, while our guests
already took place in the hall. It is a great feeling to enter the ‘Senaatzaal’
(senate hall) surrounded by your fellow students, who you got to know well over
the last three years and your family and close friends awaiting you. Shocked by
all the flashlights (yes, even video cameras) it was almost a celebrity-like
moment, even though the big, black gown made you more feel like a Hogwarts
student.
All the
graduates took place in the first row and when your name was called, you
stepped in front to receive a more or less personal speech followed by the
signing of your Bachelor diploma. The whole ceremony took around one hour and
afterwards more celebrity shots were taken, while there was a reception with
drinks and little cheese (what else?) snacks. Some people took a bit too much
advantage of the open bar and you would expect that especially students, who
can be excused due to lacking financial means to be overly excited about
anything offered for free, were the first ones in line for the drinks. However
often they were beaten to the punch by a thirsty grandma or professor.
The reception was also the moment when everybody met each other’s parents, which was entertaining; since resemblance was often so striking that there was little doubt to whom everybody belonged. Some guessing games were already played during the ceremony before you were officially introduced, next to finding the only three ladies on the paintings in the Senaatzaal (which was quite a challenging task, since they were all wearing long-haired wigs).
The reception was also the moment when everybody met each other’s parents, which was entertaining; since resemblance was often so striking that there was little doubt to whom everybody belonged. Some guessing games were already played during the ceremony before you were officially introduced, next to finding the only three ladies on the paintings in the Senaatzaal (which was quite a challenging task, since they were all wearing long-haired wigs).
In case you
are concerned about your outfit, I can only say: Choose your shoes wisely,
since that is more or less the only thing which is still visible underneath the
gown you are wearing for the ceremony.
Now I am
going to dive back into my study books and I will soon report about my current
exam preparations: Exams are coming up!
