Hi everyone, my name is Ella. I am a recent graduate from the University of Nottingham and in
today’s video I am going to give you the lowdown on getting the most out of your graduation day.
Graduation day for many is actually one of the most momentous days in your life - it’s a day you
can celebrate not just your time at University and how hard you’ve worked but your entire academic
journey as your friends and family come together and you finally get that cap and gown moment. It’s
such a special milestone and once more, most people only walk across that stage once in
their life so it’s important you get it right. I’m going to break this video down into three
sections; pre-graduation, during graduation and post graduation.
First off, pre-graduation. As a graduate, you will know that half of success
comes in the preparation and graduation day is no different. Make sure you keep an eye out for
that email to register your guests and the email to hire (or buy) your graduation cap and gown!
I would also say to make sure you check out the itinerary on the website and plan
your day effectively beforehand making sure you leave time for everything. Trust me everything
takes longer than you think it will, especially because you have to factor in travel time and of
course bumping into some extra special familiar faces around campus on your graduation day.
Plan your outfit. Plan your outfit before the day of your graduation! Now most of you
will be like "babe I’m literally ten steps ahead of you." Listen.
Nothing worse than leaving your outfit planning until the day before and then realising you have
nothing to wear. This is going to be one of those days in your life where there are going to be a
lot of photos so make sure you wear something that is smart and something you will feel
comfortable in. This includes shoes. Guys I made the biggest mistake on my graduation day. I wore
the biggest white heels, they were beautiful, but the biggest white heels to my graduation ceremony,
which looked fabulous in the pictures. However because I hadn’t been on campus
for a while I actually forgot that most of the University Park Campus is in fact on a hill,
um and I was wearing six inch heels. You do the maths, it wasn’t great! Honestly by the
end of the day I was hobbling around. It wasn’t pretty, I ended up taking most of my graduation
pictures barefoot so I would seriously recommend wearing a pair of comfortable
walking shoes or you know have the best of both worlds and pack some sandals in your bag.
Now, the day of the ceremony. Get there in plenty of time and re-familiarise yourself
with your surroundings. It might have been a little while since you've been on campus
so make sure you have a look around and you know where your ceremony is taking place well before
it actually happens. You don’t want to be late trust me. The first thing I would do is get there,
get gowned up, get that out of the way. There is usually a queue for this and it can take a
little bit of time so it’s best to get stuck in early, first thing. And also,
it just leaves more time to have more photo opportunities which is never a bad thing.
You’ve left tons of time and there are tons of picturesque spots across the University
of Nottingham campus so make sure you get all of your photos with your friends and
family. My favourite spot has to be the Trent Building courtyard,
thank me later. The lighting, stunning. Backdrop, stunning. Vibes, immaculate. It’s just the best,
trust me on this okay, it’s one of the best places to take pictures.
In this time I would also make your way to the professional photography studio
where you can get your graduation pictures taken. Here are the photos I took with my
family. I absolutely love them. They are so cute and I will treasure them forever!
Then it’s usually time for your ceremony. At this point,
I want you take a moment to enjoy the moment. It can be nerve wracking knowing you are going
to be walking across that stage in front of all of those people, but I urge you to make
the most of it because time really does go so fast and it will be over before you know it.
Remember for your family and friends who aren’t able to attend, you can actually watch this on
a livestream on the University of Nottingham website. My parents weren’t actually to attend,
it was my grandma and grandad who came to watch me in person so they actually watched
via the livestream in a different country and they had a great view. I have to be honest,
they probably had some of the best seats in the house!
Post-ceremony. You have done it, you have graduated! Be proud of your achievements and
celebrate. After you’ve graduated there are a few important things to remember.
Make sure you return your gown at the end of the day if you’ve hired it. There normally is a last
time for this as well so make sure you know when that time is and when you need to drop it off.
If you got your professional photographs taken, make sure you note down the reference code so
you can look them up at a later time and order them, however many you want.
I actually went out for a lovely meal with my grandparents and boyfriend after my graduation
ceremony. If you do want to do this I’d recommend booking ahead as restaurants in
Nottingham can get pretty booked up on the days of graduation and everybody will have the same idea.
That’s it - now you’re a graduate! To all of those graduating, I do just want to extend
a huge congratulations. You are amazing and you should be so proud of yourself.
If you’d like to follow me and my post-University of Nottingham journey,
you can do so by following the link below.
Thank you so much for watching and good luck graduating. Bye!