Although my graduation was a couple of weeks ago now, I knew I needed to share this experience with you as it will stay with me as one of my happiest moments. When you go to university you dream of your graduation day, being able to collect your degree, wearing the gown and mortarboard, knowing you’ve done yourself proud!

Before the big day itself, the first hurdle is finding an outfit you’re going to feel confident and comfortable in. You may have noticed when looking at graduation photos, each university have their own individual school colour and Falmouth’s is Cornish gold. I decided to find a plain white dress as it would stand out and not clash against the gown. I scoured the shops and my usual on-line favourite stores for hours to find something as I’m not body confident and I didn’t want to feel self-conscious. A part of me felt that I needed to buy a crazy expensive dress as graduating is a once in a lifetime experience but, I ended up coming across a white crochet bardot playsuit from Quiz, which was only £15! I am a huge fan of the bardot trend as I feel it’s incredibly flattering and feminine. After finding my outfit, I realised it wasn’t about the dress but more about the shoes, as the gown covers you up anyway. It also just goes to show that it isn’t always about the price!

With shoes, I bought some embroidered block heals from New Look which were £32. I wanted to make sure they were comfortable and not going to be giving me blisters and they definitely did the trick! I can now go on to wear both the shoes and playsuit for different occasions as they weren’t too dressy.

   

   

The day itself went incredibly quick but it started with an emotional reunion with my two best friends Lucas and Michael who have been there for me since day one! I couldn’t imagine my university experience without them, so being able to spend the day surrounded by loved ones, just made it that bit more special!

   


   

When the time came around, we all headed over to the newly built sports hall where the ceremony took place. We got called up one by one to shake the chancellors hand (who happens to be Dawn French!) and collect our certificate from one of our tutors. When sitting back down, we sat and listened to many speeches, but the one that stood out for me was Dawn French’s! Being an actress, comedian, writer and an overall amazing woman, we all knew her speech would be special. But in fact, whilst she was talking, I started to feel emotional as it sank in that my time at university and in Falmouth was over. Dawn’s exact words were: “You may be leaving Cornwall but Cornwall will never leave you!”. I was, and still am, devastated to have left Falmouth as its somewhere I feel at home and I have never felt as happy anywhere else. I feel like I belong there but hey, you never know, I may end up back there someday!

Once the ceremony ended, there was only one place for dinner and that was at The Beach Hut in Watergate Bay! My family and I have been going to The Beach Hut for four years, we discovered the beach-side café when we went down to Cornwall for my university interview. It’s also special as I took Lucas and Michael to Watergate Bay when we were in our first year, so it holds a lot of memories. By the time we got there, it was getting dark and I was exhausted so I didn’t manage take any food photos (bad blogger, I know) but please forgive me, I will just have to tell you about what I ate instead. As we were celebrating, I allowed myself to have a cheeky raspberry and vodka cocktail. For my main, I had a red onion and butternut squash tart and finally, I had a warm chocolate brownie. The food is always amazing and I would 100% recommend The Beach Hut to anyone!

So there we go, my university experience is now over! I can’t believe how quick the last three years have gone but I can now say I am a BA (Hons) Photography graduate from Falmouth University. I am so proud of myself for getting a 2:1 and I couldn’t imagine my experience any other way. I will miss Falmouth and everyone there but, I am excited to see what my future holds. I am going to carry on working away at my dreams and make them a reality.

I was thinking about doing a couple of blog posts about what to expect when you go to university and how to deal with certain situations so please let me know if you would like to see them!

Hope you enjoyed.

Speak soon.


L x