GRADUATING: The Tears & Beers

On the 27th October, I submitted my final assignment of my undergraduate degree (woah!). As I pressed the submit button, my eyes nervously scanned the room for the little guy about to pop confetti all over me and carry me out of the library on a throne. I received my email receipt saying my assignment had been successfully submitted, yet the confetti and throne didn’t come. #confused. So I walked home, texted my Dad saying I’d finished and listened to the mysteriously good Demi Lovato album. I got home, got changed and sat on my bed… now what?

Naturally, I needed a beer. I hopped on my bike and rode the Dan Murphy’s, treated myself to a 6-pack of craft beer (I’m officially not a poor uni student anymore), and went home. I cracked open a beer, flung open my laptop, and chucked on some documentaries about gun violence in America (cheerful right?).

After about 3 beers, my Dad called me to congratulate me. It was then that I began to feel pretty stoked. I felt this overwhelming feeling that I’d actually made my Dad proud. He asked me what I was doing and I told him abut my depressing gun violence documentary. He then replied with ‘Adelaide, you’ve finished studying, you don’t need to pretend to be smart anymore.’ Haha thanks Dad… I’m just actually this much of a nerd that I celebrate not studying, with watching some intense docos but not feeling guilty about it.

A few beers later, I had some flowers delivered to my house. My Mum is pretty talented at getting flowers delivered (she somehow even managed to be able to deliver flowers to my hotel room when I was in Mexico!). They were stunning and made me well up. Even though my parents weren’t there with me, I could feel their pride and hugs from miles away.

My phone was inundated with messages from friends and family, congratulating me on my achievement. I was so overwhelmed with love and support, that it suddenly felt real.

I had finally finished my Bachelor of Communications & Media Studies – Bachelor of International Studies (Deans Scholar) Majoring in French & Global Media, Minoring in Global Sustainable Development and the Environment – phew that’s a mouth full!

That evening Mitch came over and we went out to dinner at the ultimate place to celebrate anything…. His Boy Elroy. Some burgers and espresso martini later, it was the perfect ending to an amazing and emotional day.

Does it feel real? Nope. Do I know what I’m doing next? Hell no. Do I care? Absolutely not. For the time being, I’m going to jet off to Thailand to my sister (who also graduated – congrats girl) to eat, drink and soak up some sunshine to fully embrace our graduation success.

This post is dedicated to my friends and family who have unconditionally supported me throughout my epic university journey. Without you guys, I really don’t know where I’d be. They say it’s not about the destination, but the journey. And I’ve had one heck of a ride.

To all of you out there about to graduate, studying for final exams, or have still got a few years left… you can do it. One step at a time. It’s not easy, no one ever said it would be. But I promise you that those celebratory beers will go down even easier once you finish. Work hard, party harder and make sure to take a break, relax your mind and remember it’s all going to be OK. You got this!

🎓🎓🎓