“Whatever you do, share your Graduation Ceremony with the people who supported you through all the years of study. The day is a great celebration of your achievement but also the love and support you\u2019ve had. My husband cried when he saw me \u2018gowned up\u2019 and roared his head off when I went onstage. His joy and pride made it even more special. Best day of my life!”\u00a0 Moitrez<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Stage set for a graduation ceremony<\/p><\/div>\n
Enjoy it, you deserve it – you’ve worked so hard for this!<\/h2>\n
You made it to the finish line! Well done! The ceremony is one of the best things that could happen to anyone. A moment to be proud of. Have fun. jemz_jem<\/strong><\/p>\n
It\u2019s a huge achievement. You\u2019ve passed. Enjoy your special day with people you love. It\u2019s never too late to stop learning! Iouheyspics<\/strong><\/p>\n
Enjoy and savour every second of it. When studying got tough, I was working full time and raising my son; my ultimate goal was to walk across the stage and collect my degree. I thought I\u2019d be nervous but actually I was excited, 6 years of study and I\u2019d done it!\u00a0\u00a0it.is.jojo42<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Think about it – from the top to the bottom!<\/h2>\n
Wear realistic shoes!\u00a0vickyisbrill<\/strong><\/p>\n
Get a fresh haircut – those pictures last!\u00a0rhiannonshinner<\/strong><\/p>\n
Don’t worry about your gown and hood as you get ready for the procession – there is someone to make you look perfect! And the victory parade as you go back to your seat is awesome!\u00a0kiriasher<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Don’t worry – you’re among friends<\/h2>\n
I was really scared but honestly, I doubt you’ll ever be in an environment quite like that where everyone in the room is thrilled for you. At my graduation there were people crossing the stage on crutches, people crying, and even posthumous degrees being awarded. Everyone you see that day will have overcome something to be there. You’re amongst friends. Well done!\u00a0redzep66<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Take advantage of the support on offer for your day<\/h2>\n
If you are getting extra assistance for a health issue, take advantage of the support offered for your graduation. Get your portrait taken beforehand, use seating near facilities for your guests, etc. Most importantly, get a photo of your whole group on the day, taken by a helpful stranger. Enjoy every second!\u00a0tiddleboo<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It’s emotional – bring tissues!<\/h2>\n
Bring tissues. I was blas\u00e9 about graduation but having finally (!!) done the degree I thought I may as well go. I sobbed through the entire thing. Big, ugly, snotty sobs of joy and relief and gratitude. I don’t think I’ll ever experience a day quite like my graduation ever again. Welcome to the best club in the world #OUalumni\u00a0redzep66<\/strong><\/p>\n
It\u2019s a difficult one to describe. A real melting pot of emotion with everybody in the room doing it for a multitude of reasons- that\u2019s what makes it even more special. That feeling of achievement and the alien prospect of having weekends and the ability to actually do things that you want to again is unbelievably good- look forward to that and be happy with everything you\u2019ve worked for!\u00a0gary_mcintyre87<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The date is booked and the graduation ceremony is looming. The hard work is done and you’re getting ready to cross the stage to cheers and applause as you pick up your degree. But what to expect?! Fear not, because we asked our Instagram alumni community for their best tips on how to make the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":12154,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[998,1525,1640,2135],"class_list":["post-12080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-stories","tag-graduation","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home","tag-student"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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