Graduation Reflection, Immediate Change and See You Later?!

The end of an unforgettable chapter/going into the unknown...

"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story." - Orson Welles

So... My 3 year University journey last week officially ended and yeah, what a day it was! I graduated as a Bachelor of Arts (*cough FILM *cough) with a 2:1 (narrowly and annoyingly missing out on a 1st!!) in Film Studies. Honestly, it feels as though the time I have spent at University, with the friends in my course that I've made (who I hope to see sometime soon!) and the lecturers that I can't thank enough for their help and advice, has just flown by all in one flash. It's definitely a weird predicament that I'm situated in now because, although I'm happy as Larry that 'I've done it' and have gotten my degree along with everyone else, I am also in a position where I am oddly lost; I don't know what lies ahead of me in the near future, which is exciting, yet, scary at the same time. I'll go into a bit more depth on that a little bit later. Firstly however, I do want to reflect, to you, my actually graduation day which stands as a day that I'll never forget.

The Graduation day

Well...where do I even begin? I guess a good starting point would be the weather and the heat. To put it simply and to not go about it like a weather-man like you see on the news, it was ridiculously warm and sunny. I mean, looking back from last week now of the day, I can't really complain since it was rather beautiful around Media City and the Lowry Theatre. But, as most people know about me who are reading this right now, I prefer the Winter than the Summer! haha. Honestly, I'm not weird. It's just that, I can handle being cold rather than being warm, where I can hardly handle it sometimes. Anyway... it was the hottest day at that point last Tuesday haha. The fact that it was sunny added to this day that I won't ever forget. I'm not going to explain every detail about getting my tickets, gown and photographs getting taken care of, because I would be babbling on and on and I'm sure, most people don't want to hear about that. Overall, the whole build up to the ceremony felt like one swift blur; everything just happened really quickly and as soon as I knew it, I was heading into the ceremony along with everyone else. Now, again, I'm not going to go into every-single bit that happened in the actual graduation ceremony, because of the reasons I said for about before the ceremony. Obviously, as many people know, one of the better highlights from the ceremony was the special guest, Peter Kay, who received an honorary degree from the University of Salford. As much as he was hysterical on the stage, talking/reflecting about his time at the University of Salford, reading out a letter from his friend Paul and how much it meant for him to be receiving this now 20 years on-wards from he graduated in 1996, the one thing that Peter Kay mentioned, was this idea of balance; "trying to find a balance between working and playing or being yourself or having time for yourself." This stood out to me significantly because, throughout the past 3 years or so, I've been working towards getting this Film Studies degree and if I had to pick one thing that I don't do much of, is to properly have fun and spend that fun with the people that I care about. Mind you, going to University has, in a weird way, allowed to express myself a lot more and it's crazy to think about the 'what if's' you know? For example, what if I hadn't of gone to University at all and just got simple job or apprenticeship, would I have become someone different? or someone who remained the same? The one thing that I'm going to promise myself and to everyone I know, is that, I want go into my next phase in life with so much fun-fulfilment and try things that I've never done before that I wanted to do. And, more importantly, try and hang out more with the friends that for some, I've not seen in a long time. Even though at this moment in time, I am somewhat lost in terms of where exactly I want to go towards, I am determined to succeed in anything and everything that I will come across. The ceremony itself, conjured up many emotions and feelings that I had never had before. Even though I was happy, like everyone else, in graduating and going out to sustain a good life, it was also kind of sad as well; being that I won't get to see everyone I connected with in my Film Studies course as often as I can anymore. Before I go into the thank-you's, the last thing that I do want to say about the actual day, was how privileged it was being in a room full of people that had achieved things that some people only could imagine that they could achieve. The day and the ceremony, was something special to witness...

Highlights of Peter Kay at the graduation ceremony...

The Thank-you's

As much as I'm going to sound like a broken-record for the amount of times I've said "thank-you" to people, I think it would be criminal if I didn't mention the people,friends and of course, family, that helped me 'cross-the-line' haha. I know this might be a weird place to start, in terms of me thanking people, but I don't think I would have been studying Film at Salford, if it wasn't for the people and amazing friends I made learning A-Level Film Studies at Eccles College who, made everyday at Eccles College fun and enjoyable. I've always had an affection for film, which all started with the first time I watched Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope on video when I was little. But, I don't think I would have carried on to studying Film, if it wasn't for the people that I got to know of in that Film group at Eccles College and I'll never forget those, mostly, funny times that were ever present in those lessons. So to Sam, Alicia, Jemma, Matt, Alex, Amy, Danielle and Liam (sorry if I forgot anyone else!) thank-you to all in making me choose Film!! haha :). the second thank-you's go to, of course, my brothers and my mum. I am lucky to have a family that is fun and hard-working; with 3 older brothers who are like best-friends to me that have each gone their own separate ways and have been successful, and a mum who is simply the best. My other thank-you's go towards my closest friends, Harry, Tay, Luke, Sam and Julian. Even though I haven't seen any of you guys in a long while, you were always there to talk and support me when I needed it the most. I promise to meet up with all you at some point!! :)

Lastly, it would be criminal if I didn't go ahead and mention the crew, the pack, the fellowship of the theory film book... that is my film studies group! hahaha. I know I said this a while back in a blog update when I finished my dissertation, whenever there was a lecture, I don't recall ever having a dull moment. I mean, the first year I think for everyone was hard because we all had to get quickly adjusted to the work we had to do and we all had our own priorities and what not. I could be wrong about that. But, as time went past into the 2nd and 3rd years, more and more, everything about the course and the people that I got to know, was fun and enjoyable. I have learnt so much from not only the lecturers, who widened my understanding of film greatly, but I learnt a lot from the friends that I made who were truly amazing. Even from day 1, where I waited for a bus in the morning to go Media City and old granny shouted at me because I was 'in the way', everyone was just so nice and friendly. I know each and everyone one you guys will go onto do the things that you like to do and achieve things that will legendary... okay, maybe not 'legendary', but y'know what I mean. There are a few good moments that stand out to me. Specifically the time when me and and my friends Rachel were waiting for Film Journalism, and we both caught this nasty scent of fish! which sounds random, considering the fact that you wouldn't normally smell that sought of fishy smell in MEDIA CITY! Or when I, awkwardly, did my presentations. Yeah, I hated those SO much. My voice tends to crack on occasion, so that happened on a few presentations. And I can't believe I made a Frozen joke in one of my presentations where I awkwardly 'sang' a lyric from that popular song we all hate now. I know I didn't get to meet and say thanks and goodbye to everyone on the actual graduation day, but I want you to know, that you guys were great and I hope to see you very soon!! ;)

The almighty film crew

The Change?

So, as some of you may remember back from earlier this year, I did indeed talk about how 'TheRabbittePerspective', this blog, could potentially be moving over to WordPress; being that with WordPress, I can hopefully manage to bring to you better looking reviews and much more creativity which is something that Google's Blogspot can't really match. I think Blogspot, for anyone looking to start a blog, is a good site to use when you're getting started as it's easy and simple to use. But, for myself, I want this Blog to stand out in a really good way. What I'm alluding to is that, soon, I will be moving over to WordPress and how this very Blog Post, could be the last Post you see on this site. Now, this doesn't mean that this sight, specifically, will go away, I will be still using this site, I just don't know what for yet. Maybe I could turn this Blog into a more sociable site where I Blog about every-day things, rather than films. Or it could focus on football, which I have done before on this site. I don't honestly know. If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to let me know down in the comments. I don't know specifically when the WordPress will be ready yet. All I know is that it will be soon. My rough estimate would probably be sometime in mid-to-late August, which is preferably what I want to happen. After that's all done, then I can go back to normal, and bring you film/t.v. reviews for you all. I think on Wordpress however, there won't be much Blog Posts where I talk about myself. It'll be strictly posts on films, anime and t.v. Just so everyone doesn't get confused and what-not. For the time being, I will still write film/t.v. reviews for you all. Next week I will be continuing my Harry Potter film reviews series with 'The Prizoner of Azkaban' and a 't.v. series' review of Netflix's newly released show, 'Stranger Things' the week after, which I can't wait to write up for everyone. When the WordPress site is up and running, what I will do is transfer the reviews that I've done on here, to the new Blog so that everyone can easily access any old reviews that I've done in the past. I can't wait for this change to come. I think it'll be a good change for myself and for everyone. One thing that I need to do more of though, is to try and review newly released films. It's a bit of a travesty that I haven't been to the cinemas in a long while. That may start with a Suicide Squad film review... We'll see.

I think that about wraps everything I want to say. So next week, I'll be doing another Harry Potter review and I'll let you know as soon as possible, when the WordPress is ready to be seen. Thank you for everyone for reading my latest Blog Post and I'll see you all very soon!! Take care and have a nice day!! :)

(Being that I say 'Adieu' all the time in my Blog, and the fact that I like Cowboy Bebop! aha)