my convocation ceremony was on monday morning and it was super cute, even though everything leading up to it was a horrible (read: fun) mess.

1. i wasn’t even sure if i was going to get my diploma because i was super duper late paying my stupid library fine. i got an email telling me that if i didn’t pay it by may 22nd, they would put a little piece of paper saying they would send me my diploma once i paid my fine in that giant red envelope instead of giving me my actual diploma. i paid the fine on may 23rd, right as the librarian was about to leave for the day because i don’t know how to handle my own life. thankfully, when i opened the red envelope, i found my diploma waiting inside. not having it during the ceremony would’ve definitely taken away some of the sparkle of the day. it really just wouldn’t have been the same. my “we did it” moment would’ve just been a little lackluster, even though i don’t really care about that grossly expensive piece of paper at all.

2. we were so late leaving toronto, and therefore so late getting into montreal. we were supposed to leave at 9am and ended up leaving at 3 in the afternoon (six hours late). we also stopped a ton of times for food and snacks and coffee. at one point, i really had to go pee, so we got off the highway and drove for a few minutes before realizing the nearest bathroom was probably really far away. we turned and drove back and every little bump in the road made my bladder feel like it was going to burst. i kind of just wanted to sink into the ground or evaporate. we ended up pulling over and i didn’t even run behind a tree or anything to hide my shame while i urinated everywhere. at the end of the day we’re all just dumb animals. we ended up arriving in montreal at a little past 11pm.

3. chris came over and visited my family in our hotel once we got settled in, which was really sweet. he watched the latest episode of game of thrones with us even though he doesn’t follow the series. he asked a lot of questions and i struggled with providing him with answers that even semi-comprehensively did justice to the complexities and nuances laid over four and a half seasons worth of television. he was mostly confused the entire time, but at least we got to hold hands. after he left, we decided to watch snowpiercer even though my convocation was early the next day. i ended up sleeping at 5am and having to wake up at 7:30.

4. i almost did not reach my faculty in time to walk into the graduation tent with them. i’d woken up a little bit late, had a huge breakfast, and then showered and whipped on some clothes before hopping into my van. it was supposed to be a 10 minute drive, but there was so much dumb construction blocking our way to campus. we had to take a bunch of detours and by the time i reached the bookstore to pick up my gown, it was already past 9:20am. they’d told us to be ready at the meeting spot with our gowns an hour before the 10am ceremony. i ended up running towards a line of people i noticed were wearing the same colour hoods as me as they walked towards the tent, and yelling at everyone to tell me which number they were. i was 210. i ended up finding my place in line right as i was supposed to walk into the tent because i’m #blessed. it was all very stressful and dramatic. leave it to me to make such a dumb entrance.

but even though i was so completely unprepared and unorganized, as per usual, everything worked out and turned out great. i got a few cheers when my name was called, which is always nice, and i looked great walking across the stage, shaking hands and flashing smiles and getting my head ceremonially bopped by our principal(?).

chris came to meet me after the ceremony to take photos, and he brought me a grad teddy bear as a present. it was so cute and now it’s in my room where it watches me sleep.

i got a lot of cute family photos, a couple of photos with friends and a bunch of adorable photos with chris.

it was nice to see everyone looking so accomplished and proud and i’d like to believe we all had a huge collective sigh at our four years of hard work and play coming to an end.

my family (+ luz) had lunch at weinstein and gavino’s and our table was right next to vincent cassel (had to google it) from black swan’s!! i tried to play it cool and not glance over too frequently, but he was also with some really handsome french(?) guy, so it was hard. they left right after we did, so they were behind us as we walked down the street, and i’m convinced they were falling completely in love with me. sadly, i sped up to catch up with my dad, so they probably felt dejected and had to turn the corner out of embarrassment.

we all headed over to my old apartment to pack all of my things (i forgot my shoes), and then i met up with chris to take photos with him after his graduation ceremony. it was v pda and v cute.

we went and got froyo and then went back to his apartment to cuddle and soak each other in for about an hour before i had to leave for toronto. it was very warm and sweet and full of love and contentment. deep, deep breathing and slipping into the semi-conscious and then heat.

all in all, it was a satisfying trip, and now i have a diploma!

i’m going to use it to continue working at abercrombie lol.

i want to have this last summer to just relax before i actively try joining the workforce, or go back to school. i got a keyboard, and now all i need is a mic and a pedal to make the music i want to make.

it’s very exciting.