Another year, another graduation ceremony! Just a few days ago I walked across a stage and shook hands with a man I've never met, then received my Postgraduate Certificate in Education, and just like that, I became an alumni of yet another university in Lincoln. Here's how it all played out.
So ahead of the celebration, for the first time in about eight years, I decided to fake tan! Once I'd picked my outfit it became apparent that my legs and arms would be on show, something I wasn't totally thrilled about, but I'd heard that you can make your limbs look a little more attractive if they have a sunny glow - naturally, I'm VERY pale and have to wear Factor 50 if I'm stepping out into temperatures above 18 degrees (I'm not kidding) so I knew that only way forward was fake tan. I bought the St Moritz 60 minute tan and was advised by my cousin Emily to exfoliate to make sure my skin was fresh and smooth. I got this Soap & Glory branded exfoliating glove and used my Soap & Glory sugar scrub before application. I actually re-used these on Sunday evening to scrub off the tan before re-applying the following day, though this time around I didn't leave the tan on for quite as long! After doing a test patch, I realised that I needed to keep the tan on for longer than 60 minutes if I wanted it to have any real effect, so ahead of graduation I left it on for about an hour and forty-five minutes, and then more recently I just went for an hour and fifteen I know some people sleep in it but I don't want to look quite that dark, just a little more sun kissed than usual!
I also bought myself a bath bomb to make my skin feel extra smooth, I had intended to just pick something cheap up but was cornered by the assistant in Lush who gave my a demo of this bomb, which then made me feel obliged to buy it. I love Lush's products but I really wish their customer service assistants weren't so keen... I know that's part of their training, my friend Shannon used to work for them, but it's just a little overwhelming!! Anyway, she made the sale (even if it was by guilting me into it) and the bomb was lovely, so I won't go on about it.
24.07.2019
We made our way down to Lincoln on the Wednesday and had a mooch around town before going to Spoons for our first drinks of the day. It was my parents accompanying me to graduation this time around, which made it a little different to last time when we also had my grandma, brother and ex-boyfriend. This year was a more intimate affair which I liked, my parents are always there for me and I was glad to share this special occasion with both of them!
After wandering round town we went back to our Premier Inn to change for the evening and then headed out to Wildwood. It was a somewhat disastrous visit - the waitress forgot about my drink, put just four ice-cubes in our wine cooler, I was then stung by a wasp and my mum was at Tesco Express buying me antihistamines when the meals arrived... but I mean I guess it was memorable? On the plus side, the food was really delicious - I went for a pizza while Dad had a steak and for Mum, a pasta dish. You can see what my meal looked like below!
Italian ham, rocket, and caramelised onion chutney with extra cheese - DELISH. To accompany it I had a Mango Collins!
This was lovely and fruity, but unfortunately, I think that's what attracted the wasp to our table. Mum and Dad had a bottle of white wine to share but we all found ourselves feeling a little bemused when we looked in the holder...
Would you even have bothered?
Despite all of the difficulties we ran into, I would actually recommend Wildwood - service was fast and the food was super tasty, my dad is a harsh critic and even he admitted that he couldn't fault his steak! So if you're ever out for a meal and pass one, you should definitely pop in and give it a whirl, or better yet, order it on Deliveroo and indulge in your own homes! That way you can chill your wine to a desirable temperature and hopefully avoid any insects that might attempt to sting you (I'm still bitter about it).
After our meal we met Maisie who had also come through to Lincoln that day and made our way up Steep Hill, dropping in and out of the bars en route and indulging in a few bevs.
This was taken en route up the hill, when Mum and I were taking a breather but wanted to avoid making that obvious, so of course has to pose for a selfie!
We ended up at The Tower Hotel, if you're an avid reader of mine you might remember that I stayed here not long ago, so I knew it had a pretty popular bar - however, I did not know that it had such a pleasant beer garden! It has a nice patio area with rattan furniture and lovely pink umbrellas, you can see Maisie enjoying the ambiance (and a rum and coke) in the photo to the left. Maisie is my only friend who gets on as well with my parents as she does with me, so we had a really pleasant evening out together! When I first went to university she looked after me a lot and became my second mum, which I know my actual mum (the OG) really appreciated, so I think they bonded over that. It works in reverse too, I get on super well with Maisie's grandma and grandad (I refer to her grandparents as Grandma Janet and Grandad John, despite the fact that they're not actually related to me, that's just who they are to be honest.) You might notice here that my mum was on the J2Os by this point, in fairness to her this was the last stop on our pub crawl, but she had originally said that she was planning on a big night out to Bierkeller - rest assured, she did not make it. The rest of us kept drinking well into the evening though and weren't too affected by it to be honest!
I stuck to the violet gin, I bloody love this stuff and the fact that it comes in this fish bowl of a glass!
Okay, I know I said that we weren't too affected by the alcohol and then I've add this photo, in which Maisie and I look very much affected... I promise, we weren't! Mum on the other hand...
In true Catherine Barker style, she ended the evening with a decaffeinated coffee. Dad was too embarrassed to ask for it at the bar so I had to do it, but of course we were at a hotel so it was no bother! Really it was the right choice on her part because nobody wanted to be feeling rough on graduation day, and luckily, none of us were!
25.07.2019
We started the morning with a full English and then got ourselves dolled up, ready to jump in a taxi at quarter past eight, that took us up to Bishop Grossteste University. It was a busy morning, so busy that it took me about half an hour to realise that my parents had popped a little graduation present and card on my bed! They bought me a beautiful Michael Kors watch, one that I had been eyeing up for a little while but never actually expected to own, so I was and am incredibly grateful for that gorgeous gift!
I took this photograph in the taxi while my parents were chatting away to the driver, it was such a good addition to my graduation outfit and it covered up my wasp sting, so that was very fortunate!
As soon as we arrived at the university, I went straight into gowning. At my first graduation, I was quite late arriving at the gowning station and it all felt a bit rushed and stressful! This time around we left ourselves plenty of time so it was a much more enjoyable experience. As soon as I was suited and booted, we walked down to the cathedral. This was on the hottest day of the year and it took about fifteen minutes to get there, my mum was almost ready to give up, and she wasn't covered in a huge Harry Potter-like cloak! We made it though and joined the entry queue, where we stayed for a good fifteen minutes before we were finally let in.
We weren't actually allowed to wear our caps in the cathedral but I popped mine on for a selfie outside, it was actually way too big for my head and kept falling off, so it was a relief not to have to wear it across the stage!
When we got in the cathedral I did a lot of mingling with my cohort, and then finally it was time for the ceremony to begin. Last year I was one of the first people up onto the stage and I remember being petrified, like shaking with nerves! This year I didn't feel that at all though, I was confident and calm, I think because I had done it all before, but I also felt really proud of myself and all of my friends for making it to this point! Last year I went up the ramp to the stage with members of my cohort but I didn't really know any of them very well, whereas this year I was sandwiched between Rebecca from drama and one of my new besties, Ollie, so it made it all the more special! Not to mention that I was also the first of the English lot to go up, so I had everyone behind me willing me on, and we all received a little cheer and a big smile from our tutor, Kate. She wasn't the only one with a cheesy grin on her face either, as you'll see below!
There he is, the guy I've never met before... He seemed nice.
There's that cheesy grin! As I said before, last year I didn't actually enjoy walking across the stage, but this year I definitely milked it. I'm not sure what the future holds for me but that could very well be the last time I ever do that (as if graduating twice isn't much lol...) so I just wanted to take it all in. I think it was especially poignant because of the struggles I faced this year, both personally and professionally, so it really was a bit of a miracle that I had made it!
Then it was all over and we were invited to walk out with the academic procession, who cheered and clapped for us as we made our way out of the back doors of the cathedral! This is my post-graduation selfie - I don't really look more intelligent, do I? Nor did I feel it, but I did feel super proud of myself! Oh, and very sweaty... you can see that my eyeliner had completely smudged off my left (right to you) eye, not a good look.
We all congregated outside of the cathedral for some group photos (for which Maisie was absent i the first instance so we had to re-take, typical Maisie), and tried to get some super glamorous shots, despite it being about 35 degrees and oddly windy!?
After getting some snaps I walked back to campus with my parents, where we enjoyed some complimentary prosecco and strawberries, sat on the grass outside of the Constance Stewart Hall.
You can see that we made ourselves very comfortable out on the lawn! We sat there for quite a while and even tried the BGU BBQ, though truthfully, my mum was the only one who was a huge fan. The drinks on the other hand were very nice! So we had a couple and then took a final few photographs before getting a taxi back down the hill.
Of course, my mum had to try on the cap and gown! We all agreed that it suited her, actually.
After graduation we actually went to the cinema and watched Toy Story 4, I loved it - except for the dummies! Mum also really enjoyed but Dad slept through almost all of it, which he was fine with (he really likes sleeping at the cinema... don't ask) so I'd recommend going to watch it if you haven't yet! It was a little strange to be sat in a cinema full of children though, and kind of annoying (soz). So maybe go in the evening to avoid that!
Once we were done in the cinema we went to Carluccios for tea and had a lovely meal! With us having had so much fizz at graduation, I wasn't feeling up to much, so just opted for a salad as my main! I did then have a pudding, so I ended up indulging quite a bit really, but it was well worth it because the lemon drizzle tart was STUNNING.
After tea we went out for a couple of drinks and Mum finally made it to (the door of) Bierkeller! We weren't out for very long though, retiring back to our room by nine o'clock and watching a program about someone who thought he owned a lost painting by Thomas Gainsborough... I fell asleep during it.
26.07.2019
The following morning we had another Premier Inn breakfast and then headed off home, stopping off at Brigg Garden Centre en route!
How gorgeous are the flowers there!? The place itself is HUGE so it took us a while to walk round, but there was so much to look at, it was right up our street! The cafe and restaurant were amazing too, annoyingly we had eaten a large breakfast so weren't up to a carvery or even a cake, but I fully intend to go back and sample some of their food in the near future! We did get a drink and sat out on the decking area to enjoy it, which is actually where Mum snapped the below image!
Look at my orange hands!
It was such a nice end to a really great celebration and couple of nights away. I'd been waiting for graduation for so long, now that it's come and gone I already feel very nostalgic about it! I'm just super proud of myself and my cohort for making it to the end, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us all!
Thank you for reading x