The End of One Era and the Beginning of the Next

It's official, I am now Kirsty Patrick, BSc. After six very long years that I never thought I would finish, I have completed my degree and have attained a 2:1 in Ecology and Conservation.

I attended my graduation on a very wet and cold September morning, however nothing could dampen my mood. There was a tiny moment of panic as we were held up in traffic, and I started to melt down much to the chagrin of my best friend, AKA the driver. We made it with seconds to spare and I all but collapsed into my chair, not caring that I was wet and my hair that I spent an hour on that morning now looked like a nest. I was THERE. 

The national anthem was sung, a prayer was said, the Pro Vice Chancellor (that we all went "oh so that's who it is!") said his speech and finally, one by one we lined up as graduands, had our gown checked and were given a rolled up piece of paper before walking up the platform, shaking hands with a random stranger we'd never before laid eyes on and walk through the cathedral to rejoin the others and retake our seats as graduates. There was laughter, cheers and tears, but underlying it all was the love and support we'd given each other over the past four years, accumulating in a rush of relief and joy that we had done it.

None of this, however, registered in my mind at the time. The combination of my stomach doing flips along with the worry that I would fall over in my heels and make a complete idiot of myself meant that as I reached the point before my name was called, I actually had to be reminded by one of the stewards that it was okay to smile! Thankfully, I did remember to smile, did not fall over and it was with a sigh of relief that I sank back in my seat.

The whole event lasted less than 2 hours, and when it was over, we all spilled out for the inevitable celebratory photos:

And so here we are! I am done, I am finished and I am ready for the next challenge in life, which started just 2 months later when I began....

MY MASTERS DEGREE!!

Yes, after finishing my bachelor's and taking a well deserved holiday to recover from the exams and my dissertation, I became a fresher again, only this time I was looking at all the fresh faced undergraduates with a smile of nostalgia but also a smile of pride that I had moved on to the next level of my education. I am now located at Nottingham Trent University, studying MRes Biodiversity Conservation.

It is 6 weeks into my new course and I can honestly say I underestimated just how much work would be involved. Still, I relish the challenge and as a result, I have learnt to use a new statistical software (r), I have made some fantastic new friends on both my course and as part of the medieval society, and my thesis has been accepted so I am now working on the final proposal (watch this space!)

I can't wait to see what the next two years bring, and I hope you stick around to find out!