For the first time through the Gate of Honour, for the second time on the college grass

The third term began with exams. This was a new thing for me as in the previous years I always had exams towards the end of the third term. However, as I took two engineering subjects this year, I had to take the exams at the beginning of the term since engineers do it that way. Moreover, the exams were different since in the last years I had exams which included multiple subjects. This year, the exams consisted of one subject per paper. I found it slightly easier as I didn’t have to know eight subjects when entering the examination hall, and the exams were also shorter – two hours instead of three.

The exams went well and I had an unusual third term as I had no lectures and I spent the majority of the time working on my master thesis. It was fun, but since it was the main activity I kept doing every day, in the end it was rather tiring. I handed the thesis in one day before the deadline and then, one day later, my visit marathon began. I had three visits during June to show Cambridge to my sister, cousins and my parents. It is always quite interesting how you get to visit places in your city which you never visited before only when someone comes to visit you. We went to the Ely Cathedral, Audley End House, all the Cambridge museums and colleges and naturally, we went punting also.

On the 23rd of June, I had my graduation (and others had their referendum). The graduation began with a graduation dinner on the evening of the 22nd. The dinner was quite similar to the immatriculation dinner and the Master and the Praelector had smart speeches. All graduands met again on the next morning for a photo shoot. We wore a suit with a white tie and academic bands, our college gown and a hood of colour corresponding to our degree on the top. Since I was about to receive an MEng degree, I wore a light brown hood. Then, once the photo was taken, everyone assembled in the hall for a clothes check (the university regulations are very strict about that) and for a rehearsal of the graduation ceremony.

This didn’t take long and we lined for the graduation itself. Then we walked through the Gate of Honour for the first time in our lives, passed through the Senate House Passage to the Senate House where we received our degrees. The ceremony itself was rather short – a group of four people was called forward, the Praelector introduced them to the Master and one by one every person had to kneel before the Master. The Master admitted them to the higher university order and upon receiving their diploma, each person left the senate house.

I expected that I will feel something, some sort of magic, but nothing like that happened. On the 23rd I woke up as a normal person and I went to bed as a Master of Engineering without feeling any difference. But in the long run, there is a significant difference. I learned a lot during those four years and I don’t regret my decision to go and study Computer Science at Cambridge. Moreover, I am really grateful this was made possible by the Kellner Family Foundation and I will do my best to use the knowledge I gained for the best of the next generations.