I Walked That Stage

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

It was a solemn ceremony alright.

In the absence of my parents and all other siblings (all of my family are over at Alor Star for cousin Yazzir's wedding. I'm still bitter, but that's another post altogether), we decided not to take the kids. It was 6:30am when we left home, anyway. We'll take a family picture, I said.

So, robe in hand, I arrived to a sea of people. There were only 25 of us, Master graduands. The other 400 odd graduands were the diploma holders. So, we stick out like sore thumb with our cyan sash and robe and the mortarboard. The diploma holders only have the robe.

Anyways. During the assembling stage, we joked around and we laughed, reminiscing how unreal this moment was, looking at the hardship we all went through to get here. The sacrifices and the lost sleep and the worrying. But we got here alright. I was sad to learn that my 3 other friends didn't make the list. That left me the only Perempuan Melayu Terakhir. Ha ha ha. Isaac, who's the best student for 2008, who was also my best buddy in almost all the modules I attended was cracking jokes every few steps. Very much the same Isaac.


Isaac and me, before he was whisked to be interviewed (by the guy standing behind me).

I was robed. Mortarboard placed behind my turqoise awning. Procession began. I felt pride, I had goosebumps, walking down that aisle. I am here. I made it. I made it.

When my name was called for Master of Science in Engineering Business Management, it was unreal. I walked up, shook the hand of Amanda and we exchanged pleasantries and I stepped off the stairs safely and walked around the hall to admiring faces along the way. *perasan*

Yay! My only regret was that my parents weren't there to witness this magical moment with me. Part of the motivation for the Master was to have my parents watch me and be proud of me, when they didn't have the chance during my first time in Manchester. But, hey .. I think they're proud still. *bitter still*

Anyway. This is very out of character for me to be posting my own pictures in this blog. But due to the overwhelming demand, who am I to resist? Ha ha ha.



MrGart and me, squinting in the bright sunlight. Mak oii, panasnya robe tu. Tapi kerana cool, aku tahankan jua. Lihatla awning ku, masih curvy! And the kebaya matched the sash's colour. Ahaks!




The whole gang, or part of them. They're really nice and good-natured people. Sane people, really. I just stick out like a sore thumb. But we got on perfectly. The one in red robe was our PQM lecturer, not my favourite subject, definitely.

Back to normal life, I guess.

14 growls by fellow growlers ...:

zan said...

pewitttt...congrats babe!

kamu kelihatan sungguh ayu dgn tudung barumu ;)

Gartblue said...

zan .. *tersengih macam kerang wangi*

Anonymous said...

wah! *clap clap* bangga tengok.

memang terasa kekembangan baca entry ko nih. Takpe lah makbapak tak nampak. Over tau.

and yes! awning itu sungguh match. That's the first thing i noticed. Terer ah.

Macam gitu rupanya gartblue berawning ek?

Lollies said...

phewitt. mesti the whole 25 of you stuck out to the envy of other people. mana ada sore thumb.

alaa tak hallah about the parents ko kasilah dia orang gambo ko berawning biru tengah pegang scroll. my parents didn't attend any of my scroll taking. in factnya aku punya masters pun aku tak ambik pasal buat kat uk and aku dah balik.

congrats babe!

أم الليث said...

congrats akak! dah la dapat master degree.. taking the scroll with style plak tuh!

admiring the fact that you were perempuan melayu terakhir.. landmark tau tuh

p.s in the photo with u and isaac.. i know the man on ur right with the yellow baju batik. haha randomnya komen

mosh said...

yeah congrats gb! sungguhlah matching nya the awning with your robe.

Mommy Ummar said...

u one proud woman! CONGRATS!!!
terrer lah u bebe, daku sungguh kagum.

gamba with anak2 takde ke. ur big time supporters tu

elisataufik said...

Wah very the matching gitew.. :)
COngratulations again!

Diah said...

wow.. tampak cergas dan bergaya.. :))*betol tak?? betooolll.. :P congratulation super mom!

Zaitul said...

hi there...
congrats on your big day...
ooo i've been ur silent reader for quite sometime now...ni baru nk post comment hehe..
anyways...love reading ur space here ;)

IKHWANI said...

Hey hey!!! Gart the blue berawning ala-ala kebiruan gasak lah turquoise ke biru ke...CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!! you look great!!! sungguh lah you patut feel proud. Alhamdulillah!!!

MrsZee said...

i'm not one of your family members but...am still proud of you babe!!!! congrats....

Gartblue said...

roti .. *grins senget* .. errr dah habis kembang ke? pegi la timbang.

lolls .. true .. tapi tak tak aci. kau tak grad kat mesia.

aliya .. thanks babe .. this means so much to me. you know the man? wow, small world, indeed.

mosh .. cheers, intended to.

ery .. gambar dengan anak-anak belum amik lagi .. thanks .. aku pun masih kagum lagi that I managed to get it. hahahah

elisa ... thanks babe .. by the time I started my Master, I was already blogging, guess that helped took away the pressure.

diah .. cergas? wow .. *pumps biceps* thanks ..

ibuHaziq .. of yes, you have been silent .. I see your comments a lot at lolls kan .. anyhow, thanks for reading my grumblings. he he he

OO .. alhamdulillah .. yup, I was proud alright .. but I was prouder that I'd be able to show the kids what they should be aspiring to be .. chewah .. macam role model la pulak ..

mrszee .. hey babe .. i consider you family about 17 years ago, doan at 31, oxford road. *muahs*

famyGirl said...

yayyyyyyy!!! saya tumpang berbangga dan bergembira :)

congratulations!

p/s: tudung itew memang suit you well. ;)