THE HIGHS AND LOWS | MY GRADUATION STORY!

Joy-Ann
Aug 14, 2017
9 min read

Guess who's back, back again. Joy's back, tell a friend (jokes aside, tell a friend lol).

Hey guys, I'm officially a graduate *pops champagne*

Cheers.

I really can’t believe it’s coming up to two months since my first ever blog post (sorry my loves) but HEY I can explain. I was dead set on my second post being about graduation and then the day came and I literally ran out of time. I practically graduated and then hopped on a plane to Jamaica for three weeks (I really didn’t wish to take my laptop with me).

Now that’s all out of the way, lets crack on!

After all the sleepless nights, lengthy assignments, examinations, a roller coaster of emotions, a year of commuting and the glorious student discounts (bants) the big day finally came; graduation baby!

PRE-GRADUATION

Last day;

My last official day of university was May 12th 2017. I walked out of the exam room and I can't even begin to express the emotions I was feeling. It was a mixture of happiness, sadness, excitement and fear all rolled into one.

Happiness because I had worked ever so hard and made some lovely friends over the years.

Sadness because I'd be leaving a place that truly made me grow.

Excitement because I couldn't wait for the new opportunities and challenges ahead of me and lastly fear of not being able to find a job.

Can you imagine, four years of university over...it was actually finished, finito, fertig , terminado (okay, so I'm pretty sure you get it now). When you start university the finishing line seems so far away but when you're finally there it seems as if it went in a heartbeat.

They say a picture speaks a thousand words...

Me and my friend Katrina decided to go for a healthy lunch after our final exam.

Results day;

Results day was the 15th June 2017. I had to wait just over a month to find out what I'd be graduating with. *Ughh* a month felt like a year. One of my friends and I literally spent days on end trying to figure out our final results. This was actually difficult as we had to predict our final grades. This is something I don't recommend doing as we drove ourselves crazy.

Anyways, I knew the results would be published just after 12am on my university portal, so I stayed awake anticipating them. I crazily refreshed the page 100 times(not literally) to finally see that I had received a First Class Honours. The excitement was so real, I ran straight to my mums room screaming "I got a first, Mummmm I got a first". She replied in such a croaky voice saying "really Joy, you really didn't sleep till you saw the results".

To that I replied "BUT MUMMM I GOT A FIRST". It clearly didn't register in her head because she was super tired and not an ounce as excited as I was. To be fair she had a pretty long day, had to be up early and there was I screaming down the place (sorry again mum).

However, in the morning she was just as excited as I was. She knew how much work I had put in and was truly proud.

Outfit search;

When I say the pressure was real to find a graduation outfit, I mean THE PRESSURE WAS REAL!

I looked at multiple online retailers, checked high street shops and still wasn't having any luck.

The sad thing is that I actually started searching for outfits months before graduation day.

Please believe that after all those months of searching and making purchases via the bank of Mum, I ended up wearing something I had in my wardrobe. These times I was the same person telling my friends to get a move on and that it's a must to order something new (lol jokes on me). Also I'm pretty sure multiple retailers hate me now because I returned a lot of dresses :(.

I'm not even going to bother get into the heels side of things but lets just say the pair I purchased aren't the ones in the pictures.

The day before;

So the day before the big day came and that's when my stomach started doing front and back flips. I had a strong feeling that something was going to go wrong and boy was I right.

I received a courtesy call from the hotel that me and my mum booked months in advance to confirm that we were still coming. I confirmed and told the lady that we were just leaving London.

We arrived at Southampton central station safe and sound after standing on a packed train for the entire journey.

When we arrived at the hotel I was so happy, I was thinking I can just order some food and then get some sleep. I rang the bell for assistance seeing as no one was at the front desk. A guy then came out and I told him the name on the booking. He honestly did the most awkward face and was like "one second, I need to get my manager".

Me and my mum looked at each other and telepathically said "what now?!".

The manager came out, introduced herself and proceeded to say "Sorry but we've ran out of rooms due to over booking". My heart honestly sank. I was speechless for awhile and then said "but you rang me a few hours ago to confirm so this really makes no sense. I've also had the longest journey up here and I just want to eat and sleep".

After 1000 apologies she said that they were trying their best to find me and my mum a room in one of their neighbouring hotels and that we should sit down and have a drink on them. A drink? lol we wanted the room we booked in advance mate. However me and my mum were far too exhausted to even argue with them so we just took a seat.

We were then ordered a cab to the "nearby hotel". The hotel really wasn't nearby. Nearby for me is walking distance and it definitely wasn't that. If we had walked to the apparent nearby hotel, it would've taken us two hours. Either way we were just happy to get a bed (so we thought).

We arrived at the next hotels front desk and I stated where we were coming from and the lady looked super confused. She had no idea what I was on about and claimed that she hadn't received a phone call about an overbooking. She then said that it must be the other hotel which was a little further up. She contacted them and that was actually the case. We were then booked another cab, this time to the correct hotel. We were greeted with apologies but we really didn't want to hear them. Besides it being almost midnight, we were too exhausted and annoyed to even order anything to eat.

A cab was booked and paid for by the hotel to my university the next day and we received a full refund on breakfast.

The big day;

Make up by TheLifeOfJoyx...for bookings contact 077looooool.

The day of graduation was such an emotional day for me. It was so hard to hold back the tears... I kept saying to my self 'Joy, hold it together, you need to look good for the photos' I really couldn't have tear stains running down my face. I must say I really did hold it together, so go me !

On the day I had support from my Mum, Dad, Uncle and my little Cousin. No one will ever understand how much that meant to me. Embarrassingly enough when I found out that my Uncle and Cousin were attending I couldn’t stop crying, I was over the moon. I really wanted my Grandma to be there as well but she couldn’t make it due to the length of the journey. However, I felt as if she was there in spirit.

Cousin, Dad, Me, Mum and Uncle.

After collecting my graduation attire and taking a few pictures I made my way to the Guildhall to register and then to be seated.

Hey, Oana, Amanda and Sara ;)

My Brother from another Mother since the first day of uni.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Let the new adventures begin!

This picture pretty much sums up Amanda lol.

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful!

So Although I’m now around £50,000 in debt, it was all worth it in the end.

Seeing so many of my friends and others accept their awards was such a wonderful thing.

A great big congratulations to everyone that graduated from Southampton Solent University and congratulations to everyone that graduated this year!

Showtime.

Watch my graduation ceremony here!

After the ceremony, most people queued up for the free ice cream. I was obviously one of the first people in the queue. Sorry but free ice cream? Count me in!

I then posed for some pictures with a few friends and my family before heading to the main building to get the professional ones taken.

“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” - Luke 1:37

We all love a good slip, well the cute ones of course.

Better?

The only individual that gets away with calling me 'Juice' or 'Juicy'

(old nickname)

My sisters.

Getting these two to smile for pictures was a task within itself.

The world's greatest Mum.

When your Dad think's he's a better poser than you (secretly is tbh).

After returning the hired graduation attire I realised that it was time to say goodbye to Southampton Solent University.

It wasn’t the easiest four years and there was times that I really wanted to give up. There were even times that I just wanted to stay in my room and times in which I just sat and cried my eyes out. It’s funny now because to most people, I appeared happy and I was always the shoulder to lean on.

University was a great experience but it most definitely takes you on a journey of emotions and you actually need to find the strength to handle that. Everyone's situation is unique to them but for example I wasn't one to cry before attending university but that place got to me. If it wasn't money worries, it was a number of academic challenges, fall outs and even weight issues (I put on a lot of weight in uni). However the good times definitely outweigh the bad and I've learned so much.

On a more positive note, I had the pleasure of meeting some amazing people and formed some life long friendships. However there’s two people in particular that I’m so grateful to have met. These two girls weren’t only my class mates, they were my rock throughout university and are now my sisters for life!

Amanda and Sara I love you guys so much and thank you for everything!

I’m currently smiling whilst I write this but tears have also filled my eyes as I think about the continuous love and support these girls have shown me. omg, when did I get so emotional- I blame uni. Amanda and Sara are the definition of true friends and I’m ever so blessed to have them in my life.

I remember this day like it was yesterday, we were super stressed out. This selfie was taken after finally submitting one of our last assignments before the summer holidays in 2015.

First Class Honours all round!

Your squad goals.

Doing what we do best !

The cutest gift EVER, thanks for believing in me guys!

There was only one place for food and drinks after such an incredible day; Turtle Bay.

Turtle Bay was actually my go to restaurant whilst I lived in Southampton. Yummy Caribbean food with a twist and 2’4’1 cocktails during happy hour, so I really couldn’t think of a better place for my graduation meal.

It was one my happiest moments to be around individuals that were sincerely proud of me, eating delicious food and slurping delightful cocktails. We ate, we drank, we laughed, we chatted and my Mum and Dad each did the typical proud parent speech. This is when my mum thought it was appropriate to let the cat out of the bag about me crying!

'ONE LOVE'

'JUST JERK PLATTER'

'BAHAMA MAMAS & CARIBBEAN PIMMS'

'CRISPY CHILLI SQUID, FESTIVAL DUMPLINGS & SWEET PLANTAIN' (DW, I THOUGHT THEY WERE BBQ WINGS TOO).

'FESTIVAL DUMPLINGS & OUR CURRY GOAT ONE POT'

'JERK LAMB RUMP, CHEESY JERK FIRES & CARIBBEAN SLAW'

The night ended in Oceana with a few friends. Oceana wasn't as packed as it usually is but I had an absolute BLAST!

The only picture I liked. Unfortunately I can't post videos.

So there we have it guys, my roller coaster of a graduation story which I still can’t believe is over. I have no idea what the future holds for The Life Of Joy but you’ll definitely be seeing many more posts from me.

Class of 2017!

Lastly, I'd like to share some exciting news… I started a Marketing internship at Generator Hostels on Wednesday and so far it’s been incredible.

I worked the entire time whilst studying but nothing beneficial to my field. I also want to add that you should never ever settle for something you don’t wish to get into.

After uploading my CV on job sites, loads of recruiters reached out to me and I declined because none of them were offering me the field I wanted to get into. I really prayed about my job search and believed that I would land a well suited position.

I then told myself that I'll apply for internships after my holiday. However that all changed when I saw a particular vacancy. I read it and thought this is a company I would love to be part of and I felt like the ad was truly describing me. I applied but honestly didn’t think I would even get an interview. I got an interview and apparently I smashed it !

I’m still in so much shock and can’t get over how great the company seems so far. In fact check them out; Generator

Book a room and thank me later!