Oxford "Graduation" Day!

I am finally catching up on a blog about Kent's "Graduation" Day. In the timeline of events, he did a one-week course the week of Sept. 7 which culminated in an exam and the boat cruise on the Friday. So this post is all about Saturday, Sept. 12...the last day that this year's Oxford MBA class was all in one place. Very bittersweet....

So, you see I put the word "graduation" in quotes. Oxford is a funny place with strange traditions (like wearing sub fusc to take an exam) so the MBAs didn't actually graduate from Oxford, but rather had a very nice "End Of Course" ceremony. The Dean made sure to tell them so in the opening lines of his welcome speech. Nice. Each student has to schedule their "real" graduation through their individual college. Some people take 20 years to go through the ceremony and make it official....luckily Kent is scheduled for Nov. 7.

Around 1pm we gathered at the Sheldonian Theatre the traditional place for Oxford graduations) for the "End Of Course Ceremony." It's a gorgeous theatre built in 1664 and was such a fitting place for the class to end their term. They did the tradiational calling out each person's name and shake hands....but the highlight really was the speeches by two of Kent's classmates, our friends an Aussie Sarah and a [noble blooded] Engishman Will. Really touching, and funny too. After the ceremony, we had a little photo shoot of Kent in his graduation gown and hat and headed to The Turf for a pint....a gorgeous sunny day shared with friends.

We went home for a quick change of clothes, and then off to the big dinner organised for that evening. The business school set the whole thing up (paid for by our tuition I'm sure!) and it turned out to be really nice. A big tent on the lawn of a hotel on the River Thames. We started with champagne on the lawn then moved inside for a seated dinner, a few more speeches (the highlight again by our friend Graham, also an Aussie). The party continued on the dance floor until about midnight and then we headed back in to town and continued the dance party at a club in town! We started getting tired and headed home....and realized it was 4am! I can't remember the last time I stayed up that late (when we were in India I guess).

What a great way to cap off a great year. All of the students who've worked so hard this year & become such great friends were all just so happy. It really was a fun day and well deserved celebration. We're going to miss our friends from this year!