That's it. I'm done. I have graduated!
As of this morning, I am an MBA from the University of Melbourne's Melbourne Business School...and I can prove it:
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I'm even wearing the University of Melbourne lapel pin! And in case you're wondering why that's so important, that pin is given only to UniMelb graduates (exclusivity works, eh?).
This is what I looked like in full graduation regalia (fun to wear, a hassle to sit in):
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Graduating Ceremony
The ceremony was good -- despite the fact that today was the rainiest and coldest day Melbourne has had this winter (non-stop rain, temperatures dropping to three degrees overnight).
We heard from the University's Vice-Chancellor, Glyn Davis, who started the ceremony with the traditional welcome address in which he talked about the privileges and responsibilities that come with the degrees we were being awarded. We also heard from MBS' Dean, John Seybolt, who introduced our occasional speaker, REA Group's Simon Baker (an MBS alumnus who I've mentioned before on this blog). Baker talked about his top ten business tips that he didn't learn in his MBA (good speech).
Associate Dean Mark Crosby (from MBS) read out the names of the postgraduate diploma and masters students while we walked on to the stage and got our degrees from the VC (with much hat doffing). Crosby did an excellent job with name pronunciations. Associate Dean Ron Slocombe (from the Graduate School of Research) then read out the name and citation of our single PhD graduate for 2008 who, appropriately enough, got the longest round of applause from us mere MBAs when he went to get his degree.
We then had an excellent celebratory lunch at MBS during which we ate, caught up, and met friends' families. All in all, it was an awesome day.
Valedictory Dinner
Oh, and since I haven't blogged about this before let me quickly mention that three nights ago we had our valedictory dinner. This was held at Ormond College, one of the University's oldest (founded in 1879) residential colleges. It also has the most castle-like building on campus, complete with Hogwarts-style dining hall (yes, that's an actual photo from our dinner!):
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You can read about that, including details of the awards and prized conferred, in a news article on the MBS website (which is also where I got the photograph from).
All I can say now is: All's well that ends well and thus endeth my MBA.