Summer graduation 2026

Summer means graduation. And I practically always go. I would want other people to make my graduation day special, so I want to do it for other people as well! So I got to main campus in my smart outfit and went to do room where the grounds are handed out. I happened to get there at the same time as Stuart, our newfangled Head of School. He was looking very smart for the occasion. And he promptly got into the wrong queue. I beckoned him to the correct one, and said he should get his gown before me; as the head of School, he has all sorts of responsibilities that I don't have on a day like this. 

There were not many people doing the handing out of gowns, and we had to wait a bit. And as soon as a person appeared, who else appeared but Dei, who smoothly swanned in and requested his gown. It was so smooth he didn't even realise what was going on. When he realised he had jumped the queue in front of the Head of School he was a bit embarrassed. But we all got our gowns. Mine was lovely: blue with orange, and no hood. I think this gown is supposed to have a hood, but I wasn't going to insist. They are not practical and only make the outfit warmer.

When we have our gowns, we go to the Council Chamber to socialise a bit until the we are called to the corridor to line up. There was a bit of a cluster around the big fan there! This wasn't really weather to wear an elaborate gown over your smart clothes. But that is normal during summer graduation. We and all the students would have to put up with it! 

We were called to the corridor, but then, for unclear reasons, we didn't start the procession. No one knew why there was a delay. But we were about 15 minutes late. And then finally we made our way in. I ended up on the front row. 

In the corridor

By far most of the students graduating were ours. There were a few in Forestry and suchlike. But it’s a lot more fun if you know them. If they are doing a degree you teach a lot on, if they were your personal tutees, if they were your dissertation students, it is the best to see them on that stage.

It was also a special award for my colleague Martyn. It is well deserved! He is a very inspiring lecturer. 

Martyn getting back to his chair after being honoured 

When we had to stand up and sing the national anthem I was lucky to have the other Martyn to the left of me, and Dei next to him. They are both north Welsh so they can sing, and they know the song. I could hold onto that a bit. I had a strong impression, though, that they were singing it in a way that is supposed to be polyphonic, and doing either the tenor or baritone parts. I would sometimes go a different way. 

We then had to deal with the traditional photograph on the University courtyard. It takes a while for the photographer to line us up, and we were standing in the blazing heat. We were glad when the pictures were taken. I'm still not so sure of this tradition. They always put the staff at the front, and it is not their day. Why not the new bachelors, masters and PhDs? And why everyone in one go? Don't you want do a picture of the ocean sciences cohort, and the forestry cohort, separately? But I suppose that's not my call.

We then went to the public courtyard and mingled. It was nice to be able to congratulate some of our new graduates. Like Ellen, who had been senior student rep, and April, who had a love for palaeoclimate. And then we gave the gowns back and headed for the reception, elsewhere on campus.

New BSc Ellen with Katrien and me

I still had to drive and run, so I did not drink any alcohol. But there was cold sparkling water. Lovely! And there were some scones with cream and strawberries for calories.

Soon, our new head of school Stuart gathered everyone because he had some prizes to hand out. I knew from the exam board meetings who the recipients were. I knew two of them. They were very worthy winners. Of the other two, I didn’t know much of one of them, but the other one I may not have known but was familiar with; I had approved her own dissertation topic, and she had clearly run with it. She had an amazing grade for her dissertation.

The prize for the best sedimentological dissertation went to a lady I know quite well, but she was abroad somewhere at a festival. I hope she is very happy with the prize. The other one was for the best physical dissertation. This lady, Stana, hadn't been on the field trip, unlike the other lady, so I didn’t know her as well, but she had impressed in the other modules. She had, for instance, had to do her presentation on the applied marine geology module separately from the others, due to travels, and she had absolutely nailed it. I wasn't surprised she had written a banger of dissertation. Also on a topic she had designed herself.

She knew this was coming, of course; the students are informed beforehand. But she still seemed to struggle to believe it. Her mother was there as well, and she was waving a Seychelles flag around (that's where they're from), and had got quite emotional. Stana said he didn't want to go near her because she knew she would cry as well. I said I wasn't sure why that was a bad thing, but she referred to her make-up. Needless to say that the mother won, and got to her daughter. Who then indeed also got emotional. It was quite sweet.

Not long after that I needed to go to get to Llanberis for our Thursday Night Hill training. That would be quite a transition!