All About Me, Maura!: Graduation and Fun

Well, the semester is winding down work wise but I still have a whole lot of adventure left to go! The biggest difference between the end of the year at St. Mike's and Bangor University is the exam schedule. Because Bangor University is divided up amongst different schools, each school's schedules are different. This means classes end at different dates and exams are spread out over the course of a month. I finished all my actual classes on May 3rd but my last exam isn't until May 30th. I have handed in all my papers due and all that is left is that one exam...

To break up this long month, I have some events going on. One event Bangor University did for us was a Mini-Graduation ceremony for all abroad students. It was a condensed graduation held in one of the auditoriums on campus. There were a few speeches by students and faculty members just like at a real graduation ceremony. It was a nice event. At the end of the actual ceremony they called every student's name out and we walked up, received our "diploma," and walked across stage. It was just like I was graduating...but not. They even had a light lunch and graduate school fair for us afterwards. At least two people from my program already know they will be coming back for graduate school.

Walking across stage

A little blurry, but me and my friend Emma after recieving our diplomas

My diploma, it's in Welsh!!

Nope it's in English too!
Emma pointed this out to me when I got really
confused why mine was in Welsh and her's
was in English.

My program also threw ourselves a BBQ afterwards for some fun. It was nice to just kick back and chill with everyone one last time before people began to leave and such. I can't believe this is actually coming to a close! It is so bittersweet! Here are some pictures from the BBQ before I get to bogged down with the idea of this all ending: