MA congregation

This morning, an invitation to take my MA degree next March was part of my mail (in fact, my ONLY piece of mail). I've never really cared about taking my MA - it's not an award of merit, but conferred by right onto BA graduates from Cambridge. So I'm surprised to find that I'm actually quite excited.

Perhaps it's because I'll be leaving Cambridge soon and wish to go through some of the rituals Cambridge offers before I leave for good. It feels almost like a rite of passage, more so right now than taking my PhD degree, which seems more and more elusive as my work drags on. Having checked with several of my friends, it appears that most of the colleges invite their graduands to the same congregation - a good thing, as few of my 'friend-friends' from my year were from my own college.

In fact, few of my close friends have ever been from my own year, with the exception of a few with whom I spent my final year revising and working and thinking about plans for the future. After the initial excitment, I felt that the MA congregation could potentially be a very lonely day, especially since I don't intend to ask my parents to come. Two graduations, assuming they're in the UK for my PhD graduation, seems more than enough to ask. The person I do wish to see would be my brother, but he rarely comes to England now, and he definitely wouldn't be able to in March, halfway through the school-year.

My BA graduation fell on a different day from many of my friends, and so I missed seeing them looking like smartly dressed and coiffured bats the first time round. It'll be fun I think, but I think I'll also feel sad. As I said, it feels like the end of a stage in my life.

Thinking about what's in my wardrobe though, I suspect I'll be wearing exactly the same shirt and black trousers as I did for my BA graduation. Perhaps this time round I'll have my own shoes instead of wearing my mum's.