I graduated… 4 months ago.

If there was an award for ‘posting content online way after the actual event’ then I’d definitely win it. Here are photos from my graduation in July 2018 :’D

After 4 years of cramming and sleep deprivation, I graduated from University of Surrey (UK) with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science. This degree was a stepping stone to get into medical school for me. Back in school, my A-levels (exams that students take in the last 2 years of school in the British education system) results weren’t good enough to apply straight into medicine. So I decided to pursue this bachelor’s degree first and use it for my medical school application last year.

I’m happy to say that I got accepted into a medical school (yay!) in which the course starts in January 2019. More on that in future blog posts. For now, let’s go back a little bit in time... to an exciting morning on Wednesday, 18 July, 2018 — the day of my graduation.

Hair & makeup artist + Photographer

Since I’m such a noob at doing my hair and makeup, and at my parents’ request, I got a hair & makeup artist to make me look like less of a mutated potato. Her name is Olivia, and you can find her on instagram @oliviamillsmua and website. Thank you for making me look like a presentable potato!

We also got a photographer to capture this important milestone in my life. I know that the majority of students don’t hire a photographer for graduation but it’s very common in my home country, Thailand. Most Thai students even have a full-blown photoshoot before their actual graduation, haha. The photographer that captured and edited all the photos you see in this blog post is Melissa (note: I’ve made minor colour adjustments to a few pictures). You can find her on instagram @melissasnashfoldphotography and website. She’s very friendly and easygoing, and I liked how the photos turned out :) Thank you for your hard work!

Before the ceremony

My whole family came to my graduation day, along with a few precious family friends from Thailand. They traveled so far just to come show their support. I’m so grateful for them :’) Before the graduation ceremony, we had some spare time so we took some photos at the hotel my dad and brother were staying at and around the university campus.

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Forever grateful for my family's unconditional love & support :')

The most important woman in my life

Love you mama <3

Dad :)

Love you~

My little brother who's not little anymore

Sis :P

I secretly put a Japanese biscuit in my graduation hood

Dara took a video of it and that’s me re-watching it on my instagram story cx

#foreversurrey

The graduation ceremony

The graduation was held at Guildford Cathedral, which was right next to the main university campus. It’s really pretty inside. Oh guess what… I almost threw away my degree certificate (!!). Yep… so each graduand had a bag filled with documents and bits and bobs on their seat. One of them was an unlabelled white envelope wrapped over a hard cardboard. I assumed it was there to prevent other papers from crumpling (I know, so stupid) and made a mental note to throw it out later. Then a classmate sitting next to me opened up their envelope, and it turned out to be the degree certificate inside (!). Phew, close call, haha.

As for the ceremony, I thought I wouldn’t be nervous to get on stage to do the whole shaking hand thing. I mean all I had to do was walk up a few steps, shake hands with HRH The Duke of Kent and another lady and walk down the steps. No biggie right? But why was my heart beating so fast when I was lining up with my classmates by the stage? XD Maybe I was scared that I’d trip on the steps. Or it was the pressure of having all eyes on you the whole time. Thankfully, everything went smoothly, yay. Melissa also captured the perfect moment I shook hands with the Duke of Kent. Great timing, Melissa :D (I’m still not sure if it’s HRH but after googling his name and comparing his photos to the one above, I think it’s him ^^”).

Two lovely ladies from my tutor group - Rosie & Nadine

Part of the ceremony people

I think he’s Nepalese, possibly a Gurkha (Nepalese soldier in a special unit of the British Army)

After the ceremony

Friends & lecturers

We all know I’m not the most sociable person out there so I’m very grateful to everyone who has kept in touch with me throughout our time in university. I wrote a little bit about each friend (and lecturer) I bumped into that day below.

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Binu~

She’s a quirky Nepalese girl and I don’t know how she stays cheerful and happy all the time. Talking to her always brightens up my day cx

David~

The smartest dude I know. Thanks for always helping out this dumb potato, man.

Ting~

I remembered he was one of the first few people to talk to me in lab practicals and was very nice to me. A truly incredible, kind human being. It was also fun working with him in the medical society.

Katie~

I’ve always admired her confidence and determination. She works hard and I learned a lot working with her in our medical society. She’s someone who’s going to go far in life, I know it. :’)

Sam~ (middle one)

You know you have a friend you should treasure when they’re there for you during your tough times. Sam is that type of friend. Thank you for being so caring and sweet to both me and Akash <3

Dr. Thumser

I can tell he’s very passionate about education and does his best to give his students the best tools to help them learn, and I truly admire that. The way he lectures has taught me to type very fast hahaha... (his powerpoint slides contain mostly just diagrams and he dictates everything else).

Lisi

(She’s very adamant about her students calling her “Lisi” only XD) She’s very passionate about the subject she teaches (for me, she taught cancer) and truly cares about her students as well. I’m gonna put it out here and say that because of her, cancer was my favourite module out of my whole degree. It’s rare to find lecturers who make you feel excited to learn new things. I really like Lisi, and I’m gonna miss her lectures very much.

Dr. Trinder

She was my personal tutor for the last 2 years I was studying at Surrey. (My first tutor moved to a different university.) She also taught a few lectures. She’s a cool person and I’m glad we met.

Celebratory reception

After the ceremony, we were invited into this huge tent with snacks, drinks, live music and other fun things (like a chocolate fountain!).

Derping around in town

There were two iconic statues in town centre and being the playful potato that I am, I copied their poses :P My family joined in as well, haha. That was fun. Then I went to celebrate with my favourite drink in the entire universe… bubble tea!

Just an Asian girl in a graduation gown casually trying to mimic a statue in the middle of town centre, that’s all XD

Did I really graduate if I didn’t celebrate with bubble tea? :p Here’s my favourite person in town because he makes my favourite drink in the world. Thanks for always being cheerful and nice to me every time I need my bubble tea fix :’D

The celebration

In the evening, we celebrated at a restaurant called The Ivy Castle View. The food was nice but the people at the dinner were the ones that made my graduation day memorable.

The food

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Our waiter for the evening was named Chris (Kris?). He was amazing - very attentive, friendly, polite and made sure everything went smoothly. The food was good. I remembered the crispy duck salad was delicious.

My loved ones ♡

Okay this is where the cheesy part begins.. bear with me for a bit, haha :’)

To my dear parents - The two people who I want to thank the most are my mom and dad. Thank you for raising me up, taking care of me, giving me love and warmth and constantly supporting me from kindergarten and school to sixth form and university. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m deeply sorry if I’ve caused you pain in the past. We are flawed creatures, all of us. During my time at this university, our relationship has gone up and down but I’m glad that we’ve learned from our mistakes (mostly me) and now we’re closer than ever. I’m happy and proud to be your daughter. I love you very much, mom and dad.

To my monkeys (Willy & Dara) - Thank you for being the most lovable brother and sister to me. Even if we annoy each other sometimes, you guys make my world so much brighter. Thank you for showing me love, in your own unique ways, especially during my rough times. It’s such a joy to watch you two monkeys grow up, and I enjoy how our conversations become more meaningful as you mature. Also, congrats to my brother for getting into King’s College, doing Computer Science. And good luck to my sister for your upcoming IGCSEs!

To my boyfriend (Akash) - My love, I could write pages and pages about you and how much you mean to me. For this post, I’ll focus on our relationship and university for now, okay? :’) You were the one that made my life at Surrey so enjoyable and filled with memorable moments. I will never forget those late night study sessions in the library with you, submitting assignments at the very last minute (oh god, we’re such procrastinators haha) and stuffing our face with Pizzaman until we got fat (okay fine, it was mostly me who got fat cx). Thank you for dealing with this awkward lil’ potato for the past 4 years.

There were multiple times I wanted to give up on my studies and felt discouraged about my future but you would always have the right words to say to magically wipe my doubts and insecurities away. You always know how to make me feel better in any situation. I don’t know how you do it… but I’m eternally grateful for you, bby. You fill my life with so much happiness and love, and I’m so glad I found you in front that AP building 4 years ago. I hope I can bring you as much happiness as you bring to me. I love you, big poop.

Speeches

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Dad

I appreciate you so much Dad. Thank you for all that you do. Since mom wouldn’t let me post her pic, shoutout to my mom too for being the most amazing mother a daughter could ever ask for. :’)

It me

It me again, tearing up like a baby

na' P (mom's friend)

I’ve only just became close to na’ P this year and she’s brought so much positivity to me and my mom’s life. So grateful for her encouragement, humour and genuineness.

na' Yong (na' P's friend)

She is such a sweet lady who sewed a beautiful badge with the letter ‘N’ on it for my graduation gift. I could tell she put a lot of time and effort into and I’m just :’’’)))

Willy (my brother)

I have a soft spot in my heart for my little brother, man. He’s grown so much and I’m proud of all his achievements. He still has lots to learn and I promise to be right by his side whenever he needs me.

Dara (my sister)

Ah, my little monkey #2. I love her to bits and I’m trying my best as a big sis to support her as she goes on this wild rollercoaster ride of being a teenager. I know she’s gonna grow up to be a fine, young lady.

Akash (my bby)

I love you, eternally. I’m so grateful you’re my life. <3 (Okay I’m just keeping this short & sweet ‘cause I know if I keep going, it’s gonna get too long cx)

Abhay (Akash's brother)

I met this kid when he was still shorter than me and look how he’s grown aw :’) He’s always been sweet to me from the start and he’s like my own lil’ brother because he’s the same age as Willy cx

kun' Wimut (driver)

He drives for our family in the UK for as long as I remember. He’s really funny when he’s drunk hahaha.

j'Mook (kun' Wimut's daughter)

She also drives for our family in the UK and does so many things for us that she feels almost like a family member.

p' Gob (kun' Wimut's son)

We don’t see each other often but he’s a very nice, chill dude and has decent taste in music (he’s always the one to take over the AUX cord in the car haha)

Yep, my dad made everyone give a little speech. He’s that extra… But anyways, I’m so grateful for all the nice things everyone said to me and my family :’) To explain the first few ‘tearful’ photos, I may have said some ~emotional & heartfelt~ things and it made them tear up, including myself heh. I got too emotional when I talked about my parents, thanking them for everything they did for me. Gah, I’m such a crybaby.

All smiles :)

Thankful ♡

I have to admit… fitting about 90 photos into one blog post was quite a challenge. But a fun one. ^^”

To be honest (and cheesy), I really wouldn’t have gotten this far without these people. They all helped and supported me in different ways, and they shaped me to become who I am today. My life has become more wholesome lately because of them. I’m very thankful.

Aside from the people pictured above, I want to thank my other classmates, lecturers and staff at the university for treating me well the past 4 years. Thank you, University of Surrey, for all the memories. #foreversurrey