Graduation

Mark Payne having his moment.

'Hallelujah' Mark! Guess what he said when receiving his certificate?!

The recessional.

Look at the ridiculous crest stuck below the organ pipes! What do you think?

Well, I have no idea how many Graduations I have now been to but I witnessed another one today in the lovely Whitworth Hall. Even though I didn't really know many of the graduands I still couldn't help but share in the joy of their achievements. The variety of people that made their way up the stairs to the platform will all share a different story as to their journey there today. It is emotional in a strange detached way.

I was also present for the fact I had been asked to play guitar for one of the choirs anthems. Nerves are always present before I play anywhere but today this was compounded by the fact I was the only instrumentalist for the song, I was standing on the podium and the rehersal had not gone as planned! When I learnt the song on Thursday night I continued to practice for the next two and a half days. The problem, however, was the tempo I had kept in my mind. The practice soon revealed I was playing very differently from the way the choir had prepared! I spent the next 15 minutes in the back hall going through my intro just to make sure we started at the right tempo!

I have to apologise to Julie-Ann as I was not great conversation for the next hour as I continued to run through the song in my head. Thankfully when my time came I remembered the timing and actually enjoyed the experience!!

Overall my Dad's first experience of leading Graduation ran relatively smoothly. I'm sure he's pretty relieved now and will hopefully sleep well tonight!