Two years agoI would havethoughtofgraduationas somevery nicebutunrealisticdreamand a week ago I was
sittingin a large hall, wearing a gown and waiting for my diploma.But let’s start from the
beginning. We wentto the university in the morning. I couldpick up thegown after eight o’clock,then we
scheduledbreakfastora short walk, and about ten, we wanted togointo the hall,so we would settle
half an hourbefore a graduation. But we found out that there were about 400 studentsgraduating at
once andtwice as many relativeseagerlywaiting for opening the door in to the hall.From ouroriginal
plan, Imanaged topick up thegown and have arapidbreakfast. I gave Andrej a ticket to enter the hall
andqueued for a registration.
Awarding of diplomas was quick accompanied by applause andshouts of theaudience. The ceremony was
enriched by a choir singing and at the endweheard theEnglishanthem. Of all thestudents there were
onlyabout 20doctoral students and I’m not sure ifwe even occupied the entire first row.The
restwereengineers and bachelors.If Ihadthefeelingbeforethat I know nothingand that itcan be
accomplished by anyone, the hall convinced meotherwise. We were only a few students in different
subtlegownswithpretty decent hats andwegraduatedthe first. And although wepassedthrough
thestagereally quickly, when I heard my name and took the degree certificate I felt somehow special
andproud of myself that I did something unique.
