Omg I love this totally fun and wacky tradition. The wreath, the poem, the gifts, the old clothes. 🤣🤣🤣 Congrats on your PhD (a decade ago)! Wow! 🤩 (No wonder you are so clever.) And omg aren’t you such a beauty? Love this photo documentation and the little captions. 🫶🏻🥰
What a cool story! I had no idea that's how Italians celebrate earning your PhD! 👏 👏 Also, Dr. Barbs...! Congrats on such a nice achievement, and so young! So you researched and wrote about beauty because you looked in the mirror and you were like: that's a topic I can write about? 😉
thank you btw!! I am very proud of my piece of paper ;) Also, Italians celebrate like this every graduation ~ cities look like sadistic carnivals throughout the year. Eggs are often thrown at freezing toga-wearing graduates. I was lucky!
Haha right? I'm glad someone captured my face in a photo. I didn't invite anyone to my first graduation so my friends "owed me one" and did not disappoint
Happy bday. When I was in Bologna I saw many people wearing their crowns! I was wondering the timing of graduation because in the US it’s always in May. Here in Italy like you said it seems to be year round!
I didn’t know the part about funny costumes or games either! Thanks for teaching me some new things!
This was so fun! I actually never gave a passing thought about what graduation ceremonies look like in other countries. I loved all the traditions and seems like you have a beautiful bunch of friends 🩷 Also, this description is so powerful: "After what felt like an eternity and the blink of an eye" - perfectly captures that slow-yet-fast movement of time during an interview or other tense conversation!
Thanks! I do have a pretty cool group of friends ;) and we're all still friends despite the distance and the time passed! I am very lucky and appreciative. How was your graduation (or the ones you've been to)?
HaPPy BiRThDaY from the past (aka Wednesday!)🎉🎉🎉I hope you had/are having a great day!
I loved reading about this graduation tradition-I'll be graduating in December with my bachelor degree!
In America, we don't have celebrations like yours in Bologna that I know of, but I'm now tempted to have my friends write a poem and have me take a shot everytime I mispronounce a word from the poem(I'm not a big alchohol drinker, but I'd still do it, either with shots of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum or shots from Dr Pepper, which is my favorite soft drink🤣)
You should totally do it! If you think reading a poem about you in public while taking shots is fun, imagine how much fun your friends will have getting together behind your back and coming up with the most embarrassing stories and making them rhyme! Also, you have great taste in alcohol ;)
Thank youuuu 🎂 Even studying in the UK I never witnessed an actual graduation day! I have a feeling it was more formal and brought students together so that you actually graduated with your class?
Yes, it is super official haha what you see in the movies. You get on stage and are given your diploma while family and friends sit in the audience. But my parents loved it haha at my University, the person who handed me the diploma was also some kind of duke and dressed very traditionally.
That's cool!! See, my mum didn't really get any official photo out of that day. I tried to tell her that we can frame and hang my papyrus in the living room but she did not like the idea. So much for being an only child!! >.>
It is really nice that you have such nice memories from that day.
My graduation in Greece was probably a day I would like to forget. I was in the army and they would not give me the full day off, so I just went for a lame coffee with my friends afterwards and straight back in. The fact the some other friends were also graduating on the same day and they partied the whole day didn't help.
When I arrived back in the camp, they had locked all of our stuff so we all slept with out clothes on. Terrible day.
If you 're trying to find reason in the Greek army, you will be deeply disappointed. It was not a prank, it was more lack of organization; there was a small gap after the basic training and they had asked us to lock our lockers and they kept the keys. But when we got back, the person "responsible" for the keys had not arrived, so we had to spend the first day with whatever we had on us.😶
About classmates yes, we were 4 guys that we were studying together all the time, and we still have kept close contact 😊.
(In all honestly, I seldom find reason in any army). It's pretty cool to have friends from what may feel like a different life! Do you ever look at them now and wonder 'how did you even manage to become a serious person? Remember when they locked our clothes and we had to sleep in our graduation outfit?' ?
There are argument in favor and against having a mandatory military service, but I can tell you it was a total waste of time. So as it is right now, I definitely see no reason to have it.
My university friends and I were at different military camps, so I don't have anyone to share that story with! But now some of them are married with kids and sometimes I do look at them thinking how distant our uni years are! And since we had spent endless hours studying together, I definitely have stories to tell once the act all serious😂😂
What's the most useful thing you learnt? Also, mandatory?! (Not me counting hypothetical decades on fingers like I can figure out when and where that's still a thing)
The most useful thing? Not to talk back to crazy people that have authority over you. You just say 'yes' and move on with your life, no matter how stupid what they say is.
- The sun orbits around the moon. Yes sir.
- Go and mop the yard while it is raining. Yes sir.
- Guard that rock. Yes sir.
The list is endless.
I don't think there is another country in EU that it is mandatory -if I am not mistaken. If you go back one generation, there were still a few EU countries that had it. You have to go to regions that are politically less stable to find countries that still have a mandatory service.
This was so fun and interesting!! Loved the read and accompanying pics! Made we wonder if anyone ever fails?? In Australia, you know if you are going to graduate or not, and everyone who is on "the list" prepares for the graduation ceremony, which can be months after you actually finish uni! I liked graduating with my class, we'd just spent four long years together! But I also love the idea of the "instant graduation" of Italy 😁
Happy (belated now!) birthday to a very Smart Cookie!! Well done you!
I haven't studied a masters or PhD so I'm not sure about the thesis side of things but I assume, yes, it would be done some time before graduation. Possibly months prior! And the graduation ceremony is mindless and boring 😂 it's not worth the costly costume and hat throwing 😂😂😂
Happy Birthday, my lovely Scorpio Doctor Lady!! I hope your year ahead will be filles lots of enchanted adventures and beautiful memories 🧁✨🍰🎊 It's Wednesday for me, but I think it's almost Thursday for you as I'm writing this. Maybe it IS Thursday already as I've no idea how many hours we're apart, haha. I hope you've had the best day and that you did all the tiny yet mighty happy things for yourself! 💜
I can't recall how my graduation went, but it definitely wasn't like the movies nor was a fun tradition like yours involved, haha. I do remember how strange I felt to go into a room, defending my thesis and then someone decides it's good enough and then, you walk out with a title to add to your name, haha. I never completed the second thesis for my Masters as I pivoted my world around, but I do have a degree in Human Resources. I loved seeing all the photos!! Thank you so much for taking us on a trip down memory lane. Much love!
Thank you thank you! Timezones are a mystery, it is Thursday as I read this so you're spot on! And it was midnight over here when you wrote your comment so you're still right! You might have a gift ;) I am a bit curious now, where did you graduate? Defending a thesis sounds a lot cooler than what actually happens in that room, doesn't it? Since you're an actual expert, please don't laugh too much whenever I reference my teenage dream of working for HR. <3
hahaha! It's a interesting superpower to have, but I'll take it! I'm very glad that my college years are behind me and oh my gosh, no HR expert at all! I immediately jumped into a Master's program after I graduated for my bachelors, which was at Hogeschool InHolland. The only thing I loved about it was an international project I could join in my 4th year and I spent two weeks in Lithuania with international students. The master's program was at Erasmus University. It had to last 2 years, then I could collect a title in Sociology (forgot the exact one), but it stretched into 4 as the confusion about life got bigger and bigger. And no laughing from me, but I am curious why a teenage dream involved HR, hehe. Does it have something to do with the fact that you can technically stalk people yet one can say, "I observe the human behavior, for science...and all the weird stories I can tell..." 👀❤
Surely college was better than high school... At least you got to pick subjects you were interested in, and even travel, and stretch it out for years... Although that sounds horrible if you're fed up with school in general :S (and yes, I think I liked the idea of judging people based on pseudoscience haha)
Thank you for reading :) I stumbled upon my old album and thought it would be cool to share this 'very normal tradition'. I am glad you found it interesting, that was precisely my intention <3
Omg I love this totally fun and wacky tradition. The wreath, the poem, the gifts, the old clothes. 🤣🤣🤣 Congrats on your PhD (a decade ago)! Wow! 🤩 (No wonder you are so clever.) And omg aren’t you such a beauty? Love this photo documentation and the little captions. 🫶🏻🥰
Thank you!! I'm feeling very smart in Italian when I think about that day ;)
Of course I will now be calling you “Dr Barbs” from now on. 🤣 You have to have the honour befitting your station. 😜😘
You and all my bills and flight tickets can absolutely call me DR!! Working in a hospital I've learnt it's otherwise frowned upon.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
What a cool story! I had no idea that's how Italians celebrate earning your PhD! 👏 👏 Also, Dr. Barbs...! Congrats on such a nice achievement, and so young! So you researched and wrote about beauty because you looked in the mirror and you were like: that's a topic I can write about? 😉
thank you btw!! I am very proud of my piece of paper ;) Also, Italians celebrate like this every graduation ~ cities look like sadistic carnivals throughout the year. Eggs are often thrown at freezing toga-wearing graduates. I was lucky!
It all started with my passion for Japanese music. Funny, I know! Maybe I should write about my aesthetic philosophy journey 🤔
So fun! And damn, I would have loved to have been carried out of my thesis meeting like that.
Haha right? I'm glad someone captured my face in a photo. I didn't invite anyone to my first graduation so my friends "owed me one" and did not disappoint
Happy bday. When I was in Bologna I saw many people wearing their crowns! I was wondering the timing of graduation because in the US it’s always in May. Here in Italy like you said it seems to be year round!
I didn’t know the part about funny costumes or games either! Thanks for teaching me some new things!
I'm glad you got to experience the city "like a local" :)
This was so fun! I actually never gave a passing thought about what graduation ceremonies look like in other countries. I loved all the traditions and seems like you have a beautiful bunch of friends 🩷 Also, this description is so powerful: "After what felt like an eternity and the blink of an eye" - perfectly captures that slow-yet-fast movement of time during an interview or other tense conversation!
Thanks! I do have a pretty cool group of friends ;) and we're all still friends despite the distance and the time passed! I am very lucky and appreciative. How was your graduation (or the ones you've been to)?
HaPPy BiRThDaY from the past (aka Wednesday!)🎉🎉🎉I hope you had/are having a great day!
I loved reading about this graduation tradition-I'll be graduating in December with my bachelor degree!
In America, we don't have celebrations like yours in Bologna that I know of, but I'm now tempted to have my friends write a poem and have me take a shot everytime I mispronounce a word from the poem(I'm not a big alchohol drinker, but I'd still do it, either with shots of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum or shots from Dr Pepper, which is my favorite soft drink🤣)
You should totally do it! If you think reading a poem about you in public while taking shots is fun, imagine how much fun your friends will have getting together behind your back and coming up with the most embarrassing stories and making them rhyme! Also, you have great taste in alcohol ;)
Lol, thank you😉We probably couldn't do the reading in public, but it'd still be a fun thing do at home🤣
100%! It's one of the days you will always treasure
Aww, happy belated birthday, my lovely 🖤 loved seeing all these photos! My graduation was in the UK haha and so different from yours 😅
Thank youuuu 🎂 Even studying in the UK I never witnessed an actual graduation day! I have a feeling it was more formal and brought students together so that you actually graduated with your class?
Yes, it is super official haha what you see in the movies. You get on stage and are given your diploma while family and friends sit in the audience. But my parents loved it haha at my University, the person who handed me the diploma was also some kind of duke and dressed very traditionally.
That's cool!! See, my mum didn't really get any official photo out of that day. I tried to tell her that we can frame and hang my papyrus in the living room but she did not like the idea. So much for being an only child!! >.>
It is really nice that you have such nice memories from that day.
My graduation in Greece was probably a day I would like to forget. I was in the army and they would not give me the full day off, so I just went for a lame coffee with my friends afterwards and straight back in. The fact the some other friends were also graduating on the same day and they partied the whole day didn't help.
When I arrived back in the camp, they had locked all of our stuff so we all slept with out clothes on. Terrible day.
But I am glad you enjoyed yours! 😊
Why did they lock your stuff? was that supposed to be a friendly prank? :( are you still in touch with your other classmates?
If you 're trying to find reason in the Greek army, you will be deeply disappointed. It was not a prank, it was more lack of organization; there was a small gap after the basic training and they had asked us to lock our lockers and they kept the keys. But when we got back, the person "responsible" for the keys had not arrived, so we had to spend the first day with whatever we had on us.😶
About classmates yes, we were 4 guys that we were studying together all the time, and we still have kept close contact 😊.
(In all honestly, I seldom find reason in any army). It's pretty cool to have friends from what may feel like a different life! Do you ever look at them now and wonder 'how did you even manage to become a serious person? Remember when they locked our clothes and we had to sleep in our graduation outfit?' ?
There are argument in favor and against having a mandatory military service, but I can tell you it was a total waste of time. So as it is right now, I definitely see no reason to have it.
My university friends and I were at different military camps, so I don't have anyone to share that story with! But now some of them are married with kids and sometimes I do look at them thinking how distant our uni years are! And since we had spent endless hours studying together, I definitely have stories to tell once the act all serious😂😂
What's the most useful thing you learnt? Also, mandatory?! (Not me counting hypothetical decades on fingers like I can figure out when and where that's still a thing)
The most useful thing? Not to talk back to crazy people that have authority over you. You just say 'yes' and move on with your life, no matter how stupid what they say is.
- The sun orbits around the moon. Yes sir.
- Go and mop the yard while it is raining. Yes sir.
- Guard that rock. Yes sir.
The list is endless.
I don't think there is another country in EU that it is mandatory -if I am not mistaken. If you go back one generation, there were still a few EU countries that had it. You have to go to regions that are politically less stable to find countries that still have a mandatory service.
This was so fun and interesting!! Loved the read and accompanying pics! Made we wonder if anyone ever fails?? In Australia, you know if you are going to graduate or not, and everyone who is on "the list" prepares for the graduation ceremony, which can be months after you actually finish uni! I liked graduating with my class, we'd just spent four long years together! But I also love the idea of the "instant graduation" of Italy 😁
Happy (belated now!) birthday to a very Smart Cookie!! Well done you!
Thank you!! Do you guys have to defend your thesis months prior to graduation? Is graduation day just a mindless ceremony?
I haven't studied a masters or PhD so I'm not sure about the thesis side of things but I assume, yes, it would be done some time before graduation. Possibly months prior! And the graduation ceremony is mindless and boring 😂 it's not worth the costly costume and hat throwing 😂😂😂
It makes for more socially accepted graduation photos I suppose...
Haha!
Happy Birthday, my lovely Scorpio Doctor Lady!! I hope your year ahead will be filles lots of enchanted adventures and beautiful memories 🧁✨🍰🎊 It's Wednesday for me, but I think it's almost Thursday for you as I'm writing this. Maybe it IS Thursday already as I've no idea how many hours we're apart, haha. I hope you've had the best day and that you did all the tiny yet mighty happy things for yourself! 💜
I can't recall how my graduation went, but it definitely wasn't like the movies nor was a fun tradition like yours involved, haha. I do remember how strange I felt to go into a room, defending my thesis and then someone decides it's good enough and then, you walk out with a title to add to your name, haha. I never completed the second thesis for my Masters as I pivoted my world around, but I do have a degree in Human Resources. I loved seeing all the photos!! Thank you so much for taking us on a trip down memory lane. Much love!
Thank you thank you! Timezones are a mystery, it is Thursday as I read this so you're spot on! And it was midnight over here when you wrote your comment so you're still right! You might have a gift ;) I am a bit curious now, where did you graduate? Defending a thesis sounds a lot cooler than what actually happens in that room, doesn't it? Since you're an actual expert, please don't laugh too much whenever I reference my teenage dream of working for HR. <3
hahaha! It's a interesting superpower to have, but I'll take it! I'm very glad that my college years are behind me and oh my gosh, no HR expert at all! I immediately jumped into a Master's program after I graduated for my bachelors, which was at Hogeschool InHolland. The only thing I loved about it was an international project I could join in my 4th year and I spent two weeks in Lithuania with international students. The master's program was at Erasmus University. It had to last 2 years, then I could collect a title in Sociology (forgot the exact one), but it stretched into 4 as the confusion about life got bigger and bigger. And no laughing from me, but I am curious why a teenage dream involved HR, hehe. Does it have something to do with the fact that you can technically stalk people yet one can say, "I observe the human behavior, for science...and all the weird stories I can tell..." 👀❤
Surely college was better than high school... At least you got to pick subjects you were interested in, and even travel, and stretch it out for years... Although that sounds horrible if you're fed up with school in general :S (and yes, I think I liked the idea of judging people based on pseudoscience haha)
This was great fun to read, as someone who had no idea this tradition existed. Congratulations on your achievement.
Thank you for reading :) I stumbled upon my old album and thought it would be cool to share this 'very normal tradition'. I am glad you found it interesting, that was precisely my intention <3