The circle of life: Study, get that certificate, graduate and get a job.

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it

If you can dream it, you can become it.

-William Arthur Ward-

5th of April 2014, marks another milestone in my life. I attended my diploma graduation when I was in KDU back in 2011. I am now a graduate from Monash University! Make that an alumni now. Haha.. Fun fact, friends of mine commented that I don't seem to age. On the left was me during my graduation in 2011 and the right was me during my 2014 graduation. I may look like I don't age, but I can feel myself ageing, physically and mentally. Photos lie I tell ya!!

When I was going through sleepless nights of finishing up my assignments and exams, trust me, there are times where I just wanted to give up and give some crappy assignment but knowing me, I don't have the capacity in me to be so whatever about it. Of course I aim to make my family proud about my achievements.

In occasions like these, there are bound to be some form of selfies.

Having to stay in the same house for the past few years, she is practically like another sister to me! :)

Aaaannndd to see myself in the graduation robe, and that mortar board a.k.a trencher cap! Because I did not get a mortar board for my diploma, so I was excited to wear the mortar board.

I prefer this robe design over the ones I had from KDU. The ones from KDU were massive! It helped having one that is of the smallest size I guess for this graduation. Not that it was any smaller, but it was more comfortable compared to the one from KDU and I felt that it fitted better too.

And I absolutely adore the soft and faded colour of the hood for the School of Arts and Social Sciences! Back then, my sash from my diploma graduation was fuchsia pink. For my Bachelor's Degree, we are identified by the colour from the inside of the sash; facing inwards and from the front as you see outlining the turquoise. My faculty's colour was Old Rose. There's just something about pink and the School of Arts huh. I also learnt that, the sash of Bachelor's Degree graduate are only folded on one side (as you can see below) as the guy explained it in layman terms: "Belum full lagi. Halfway je" (Not a full academician, only halfway there). 

I love this picture alot!

Another thing that made me determined to complete my course was the thought of possibly failing a subject. Failing a subject meant paying almost 5k to retake a subject. So... HELL NO! No way am I gonna retake any papers and to pay that sum for relearning what I have learnt but making sure I pass the second time.

Oh the happy faces of a Monash graduate :')

Photo taking sessions were quite fast and systematic. The supervisor was very friendly and made conversations with everyone.

Psst... you're not allowed to take a photo from your personal camera actually. #rebel XD

Our little group of three. All those times where we had to burn the midnight oil, studying for exams, squeezing what's left of our brain juice to come out with a decent assignment. Time spent talking and asking nonsensical questions were more productive than those that we asked relating to our assignments and exams. Thank You guys for a great two years! 

I am still up with our idea of sheep shearing, strawberry plucking though.

Milking cows don't sound like a bad idea either. You know where to find me.

Picture taken from Audrey.

Graduation day became more meaningful when you have not only family to share it with but also with friends. Friends who are sharing the same moment as you and friends who have come to celebrate the moment with you. :)

Thank you for dropping by, Rachael!! :)

Your selfie camera is damn cool. Now I know the secret to a picture perfect selfie.

Picture taken from Rachael.

The most of the Spartan attended this graduation. I believe this tradition has been going on for years now. A little overwhelming with the crowd and all but it meant a lot that all of them who were present took the time to celebrate this day with their friends who were graduating. Thank You all!!! :D

Not all of them but most of them.

Picture taken from Devi.

They gave me chocolates!!!! And a touching note to it to.

I was in the midst of my #100happydays challenge and I was glad to know that I inspired them. :)

The twins graduated on the same day as well!

Jon Khoo my brothurrrrr... It has been so long since we last met!

We didn't attend the same graduation ceremony before this but glad that we could graduate together this time!

Spot the le wild KS

Sorry for a very unresponsive me.  Glad you were there and took the time to take pictures with and for me.

Picture taken from Zhi Shan.

I call this the champions' picture among the 3 pictures that we took, because we're all smiling like champions here!

Thank you guys for the flower and for being so patient waiting for me and your friends! XD

Good to see both of them again! Lovely picture but ugghh to my hood

Picture taken from Qian Lim

Lil graduation bear from the family. Much English from the makers of the toy bear.

Word of advice for graduation:

1. Get there early! It is optional but for me I prefer to be there early so that I can settle everything from robing to taking graduation pictures to taking pictures with friends and families, skip the long queues, eat something if you have the chance. Because honestly by the time the graduation ceremony is over and you're out from the hall, all you want to do is eat. I was damn hungry halfway through the ceremony. With all the graduands packed in the same area with families and friends, you just want to get out from the robe ASAP.
2. Bring your own pins for clothes and hair. The university does prepare them but since my session was the last one of the day, there were only 3 pins left for the robe.
3. Wear a formal shirt. For my degree (and diploma) we had a button hole on our robe which is meant to be hooked onto one of the buttons on the front of our shirt. If you're particular, wearing a formal top will be much more convenient as I wore a blouse, I had to figure out the best way to pin my robe onto my blouse without looking messy.
4. Bring two pair of shoes! This goes out to all the girls out there. If you're planning on wearing those killer heels (like me *vain*) please bring an extra flats or something that you can wear comfortably while you prance around taking pictures with everyone and then you switch to your heels only when you go on stage.
5. Carry a practical [hand]bag or none. I know it is your big day and you would like to carry around your make up kit/hair accessories/cameras/phone etc. in case of emergencies and of a probable beauty fix. But being in that robe and carrying a bag is the most uncomfortable thing ever. My bag was the size of a kid's exercise book and it was so annoying that I had to carry it everywhere multi-tasking with ensuring that my robe stays in place. If you can, forgo the bag. Leave it with your family or just carry a phone with you and that's it.
6. SMILE and have fun!!! It's your big day, a day you should be proud of. So take lots of pictures, you only wear the robe probably once in a lifetime.

A celebratory cupcake for me!

Thank You to all who made my graduation a memorable one. Even though some of you who couldn't be there physically, I appreciate all the wishes and blessings! :)