As this blog began as my online scrapbook for everything in my life, its only right to take things back to basics and share one of the biggest days of my life so far - my graduation.

Did you catch my recent post about finishing my undergraduate degree? The last four years have flown by, and I can now say I am a graduate of the University of Edinburgh. My graduation was on the 5th of July, at the 3pm ceremony at the recently opened McEwan Hall. Bristo Square and McEwan Hall have been having a massive refurbishment over the last few years, and were proudly revealed for our graduation week. It was an incredible setting to have our ceremony in, and provided a beautiful backdrop for the millions of photos happening in the square.

My parents and sister came to celebrate the day with me, and they treated me like an absolute princess the whole time. We had a pretty chill Tuesday night when they arrived, popping our first bottle of sparkly. On Wednesday we started the day with a walk along the canal - its one of my favourite walks, so I wanted to share it with my family. After this, we headed back to my flat where we made a brunch to fill our stomachs. I was then given such lovely presents from my family - including a ring light from my brother and sisters (hello perfectly lit photographs and selfies) as well as a beautiful bracelet from my parents, which I haven't stopped wearing.



Bristo Square was filled with excited students and families, all dressed to the nines. I picked up my dress and shoes from New Look, and loved them both - especially the embroidered heels of the shoes.  My sister's dress was also from New Look, and my mum's from Wallis. We made sure we were all matching with the pinks, from the flowers on my shoes, to my dad's shirt and tie.





Wearing the robes is such a great feeling, and I honestly didn't want to take them off when. I pranced about in them for the whole afternoon. For my school (History, Classics and Archaeology) we were given white hoods. Edinburgh don't give out hats - so I missed out on the photo of throwing my hat in the air - and instead have a tradition of doffing each graduates head with a bonnet that has touched the head of every graduate from Edinburgh.



When the moment came, crossing the stage to be doffed, I was so excited. It's been a fast four years, but I've really loved it. After a rocky start in first year, I definitely grew into university. The department of Archaeology at Edinburgh is great, with some fantastic lecturers who were supportive and fascinating to be taught by. I've also made some amazing friends, both within my course and out with. It's going to be strange to not be surrounded by the same faces each day, but it was great to graduate alongside some truly amazing people.




This was honestly one of the best days ever - it feels so amazing to be finalising all the hard work I've put in our the last few years and really celebrating it. Afterwards, my family and I went to Chaophraya for a celebratory meal, which I've got a blog post written all about to show off the incredible food that we ate.

Any current students reading, make sure you celebrate graduating in some way - its such an achievement to complete a degree and deserves to be celebrated. Big headed as it might sound, but I've never felt prouder of myself than when I walked across the stage, and after 4 tiring years I wanted to make a big deal of it!

So after getting my degree, can I finally call myself an archaeologist? Maybe after this summer in Italy I'll class myself as a real archaeologist!