It has been a long time since I have written in here. Mainly because I believe that despite how much has happened, I have been so busy and uncertain about many things that I just, did not feel inclined to write about stuff.

Anyways. Just and update of things...

Graduation - 10 September 2008

This was... one of the happier moments that I had experienced lately. In a nutshell, my graduation was... well, it gave me a sense of finality and a sense of achievement. I was so very tired and ended up snoozing through one of the speeches. But seeing the people who I had studied with, gone to early property classes together, endured procedure and bumped into at the law school office when hastily handing in an assignment... it made me really happy. These people had been experiencing the same thing as me the past 5.5 years, I had seen them in their usual uni gear and now seeing them in their regalia was so...well.. it was a "moment."

All of the law students usually congregated outside Winthrop Hall stressed out of our minds, stressed about our notes, stressed about whether we had forgotten to bring the appropriate statute and stressed about whether we would understand and be able to answer the exam question at all.... But this night, was different in that we gathered together for one last time, because we are graduating. The usual stress in the air was gone in its stead there were the joys relief and pride.

Sitting in Winthrop Hall and soaking in its historical richness and beauty, examining the huge circular stained glass window and the organ pipes beneath it, my mind went back to the year 2001, or there abouts, when I came to Winthrop Hall for the first time. Dad had taken me, on a night like this, to listen to a talk about the Law School and what to expect from going to UWA if you decided to take this path. I can't really remember much about what was said. But I remember sitting with Dad and looking at the stained glass window and the walls, the ceiling, and just sitting in awe about this place. It was so beautiful. I remember thinking "It would be so awesome to go to this university..." that "... it seems so ridiculously far away before I would finish a degree... I'd be some old, mature person who knows what they want, some one who knows everything!" It felt like... like surreal, like it was a glimpse of what could be, but deep down I was not sure whether it would ever come to pass. Law at UWA. It seemed like a dream. It seemed like a lifetime away, and that it would never happen. But I have always been a sucker for chasing dreams, so to me, though it seemed like an arduous task, I always had the hope that it one day may happen.

And now... on the 10 September 2008, I was sitting there in Winthrop Hall no longer sitting with dad, as he was behind me with Mom, Scott and Will and all the other parents, family and loved ones of the graduates. I was sitting there by myself, accompanied by my peers. 7 or 8 years have passed and Winthrop Hall has not changed a bit, but I had. I kept on thinking throughout the ceremony... that 2008 Anna is very different to the 2001 Anna, and that the 2008 Anna is very different to who the 2001 Anna had expected to be. For the 2008 Anna is not old (well I hope not), she is definitely not mature, she has no idea what she wants, and does not know "everything."

It was only when I was waiting for the Dean to call out my name, that I got nervous. I don't know... was it nerves? Or was it excitement? Maybe both, because besides reminiscing about the 2000/2001 Anna, I was pretty cool, calm and collected. I really was not fussed. It was only when I heard "Anna Lam Sasson" pronounced perfectly, did I feel a surprising surge of happiness. It was the first time that I had heard my own name echoing clearly and correctly. As soon as he said "Sasson" as "Sas-s-own" I smiled, because there was no mistaking it, that was me.

Pride, happiness and a overwhelming feeling of accomplishment grew with every step I took across the stage. I beamed. I no longer thought about how unenthusiastic some people were about graduating, and those who did not even turn up to graduation. I must admit I thought it was nothing special for a while, but that changed the moment I heard my name. I think that was the first time in my whole life that I was undisputedly proud of myself. There was no doubt, there was no second guesses. There was no "But... I think So and So did a better job than me, why did I get it?" No one could take this away from me ever.

Labels: University