Lady and Gentleman,
I have the honour to anounce that I have become a Master of Sciences. He he. Sorry for showing off like that. To be honest, I am really happy because I successfully completed my course. Although the congregation took place on December 10, I think it is not too late to talk about it.
I took bus to the university at 8.30 a.m and then went up to the second floor of the Student Union building to collect my name card. However, the officer could not find it so they just gave me a piece of paper with a seat number on it. I was requested to meet a blonde lady at the City Hall and expected that she would help me solve my problem. After that, I looked around to see where I could get my gown. The letter sent to me from the academic office stated that I should collect the gown on the first floor of the S.U building. In fact, it turned out that I had to go out of the building, turn right, go downstair to get in a very large room - I do not know what this room is actually used for. Wearing the gown was not as complicated as I thought, it just took me half a minute to take the gown on. That costume made me look like an actor in the movie Harry Porter. And a lot of students wearing gown made Northumbria University became the Hogwart School. He he. Then, Loc and I went to take some pictures near the stone-carved pile of books. If you know a graduate from Northumbria University, I am sure he (or she) once takes some photos there. The pile of books is like a hidden land-mark of the university along with the New City Campus. The next destination was the bridge which connected the city campus east to the west one. It is a quite nice bridge, especially at night time when all lights attached to the handrails on both side of the bridge turned on creates a fanciful scenery. You also can see the name of the university on the walkway. And the last destination is certainly the New City Campus. It is the new home of the School of Design, School of Law and Newcastle Business School. In my opinion, it is not fair because this building has got a modern structure (it is wrapped in a skeleton of stainless steel mesh). So, it suits the school of Computing, Engineering, Information Sciences the most. How can they place a school with many excellent students (like me :D ) researching on new technologies in such a small and old building.
We met Ming, Ally, her mum and her little brother on the way to the City Hall. Oh my god, she (and Ming also) is a really lucky and happy girl for having her family joining her that day. I envied her. I was so lonely. I wanted to cry but I could not. My parents could not get here because the procedure to get the VISA is too troublesome. We do not want to waste a lot of time, money, and effort to travel to UK for just a few days. I wonder when we can travel freely to UK and other Europe countries (crying again). He he. All of us then went to the Ellison Building to take official photos. I must tell you that some businessman here is very rapacious. I had to pay 40 pounds something for only ONE shot (they will post me some prints of it next month). In addition, they rob me of 5 pounds for copying that image into a CD but it was not worthy at all. I got the picture in which I looked like an African. It resulted from taking pictures without flash and lights. If you want them edit your pics using Photoshop, please pay 5 more pounds. They did a big business, right?.
I reached the City Hall at around 10 o'clock and I got my name card from my former program leader instead of an unknown blonde lady. The congregation began at 10:45 with the blessing. A very nice rhythm was played, the door of the Hall was opened and a gentleman holding a sword came in. He was followed by some lecturers (I think so), the vice chancellor and the chancellor. When all people took their seats, the master of ceremony started to announce the name of students of each school. A student would go to the stage, shaking hand with the chancellor, given a roll of paper and went back to his (or her) seat. The same process was applied to all students so that it was very boring. The ceremony finished at 12 o'clock. I went to Greggs shop to buy some steak bake for lunch and then walked back home. One of the most important events in my life passed.
With my supervisor, Dr. Jeremy Ellman
In the last part of this entry, I would like to introduce my project supervisor. His name is Jeremy Ellman. He is one of the best teachers I have ever met. I am sure that I can not complete my dissertation without his help. The following sentences are quoted from the acknowledgement of my dissertation: "...I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Jeremy, for so much time and effort he has spent on guiding me through every state of this dissertation. Dr. Jeremy has been a continuous source of ideas, encouragement, motivation, and support for me. I feel truly fortunate to have been working under Dr. Jeremy's guidance...".
