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aryanhwyToday was matriculation, when the students are formally entered into the university. It is broken into five ceremonies, with 3 (sometimes 4) colleges per ceremony. I didn't really know what matriculation was like, so when I saw an email asking for volunteers to marshal, I figured that would be a good way to do so. I first signed up for just the morning, but then a week in advance they still needed volunteers so I added myself to the afternoon rota, too.
Durham weather in early October can be quite variable, but many people commented on the fact that this was the worst weather matriculation had seen in years. It rained continually, from when I arrived at 8:45 to when I left shortly before 17:00. (It was only on the way home after I got Gwen from nursery that I furled my umbrella finally). I had an indoor/outdoor role, organizing (indoors) the students as they came in through the back chapel of the cathedral, then standing out front the main entrance to the cathedral during the ceremonies to direct any visitors or tourists down to the other entrance, and then shepherding the students out through the main entrance and down the correct exit path.
When I was given the indoor duty for the first ceremony, I thought "Yay, out of the rain!" It didn't take long to realize that, no, on a good day, the chapel is significantly cooler than outdoors, and on a bad day, the entrance, which I had to stand in front of to immediately direct students to my left as they came through, turned into a wind tunnel. After five ceremonies, I was rather cold and damp. Here's a view out that door:
A bit ago, I typed this up and posted it to FB:
Lessons learned from marshalling five matriculation ceremonies today:
1. Contrary to popular opinion, queuing does NOT come naturally to all Brits.
2. Teacher voice is needed to get everyone to (a) walk in the direction they need to, (b) stop when they need to, (c) go when they need to. We've got 600 people to file through this chapel, you're going to have to do the kindergarten snake and go down, turn 'round the column, come back up, all the way up, to me, all the way to me, and then turn and go back down, turn left at the statue, c'mon back up, and THEN into the cathedral.
3. Dressing for the rain isn't enough. You need to dress for the bloody wind coming through the wind tunnel the doors form.
4. Once the queue is going, all you really need to do is stand with one arm outstretched, palm politely forward.
5. A black robe means you are a student.
6. A black robe with a commanding tone means you are a symbol of authority (see (2)).
7. A black robe and standing in front of the main entrance asking "Can I help you?" is not always enough to indicate that "You aren't allowed in this entrance if you don't give me the right answer".
8. Dyeing my hair has shaved a good 5-10 years off my age. I am now "young lady" again.
9. If you think "I wonder if I should bring a thermos of tea with me", the answer is always "yes".
10. They're so young, they're all so young.
11. I can't wait until next year.
Durham weather in early October can be quite variable, but many people commented on the fact that this was the worst weather matriculation had seen in years. It rained continually, from when I arrived at 8:45 to when I left shortly before 17:00. (It was only on the way home after I got Gwen from nursery that I furled my umbrella finally). I had an indoor/outdoor role, organizing (indoors) the students as they came in through the back chapel of the cathedral, then standing out front the main entrance to the cathedral during the ceremonies to direct any visitors or tourists down to the other entrance, and then shepherding the students out through the main entrance and down the correct exit path.
When I was given the indoor duty for the first ceremony, I thought "Yay, out of the rain!" It didn't take long to realize that, no, on a good day, the chapel is significantly cooler than outdoors, and on a bad day, the entrance, which I had to stand in front of to immediately direct students to my left as they came through, turned into a wind tunnel. After five ceremonies, I was rather cold and damp. Here's a view out that door:
A bit ago, I typed this up and posted it to FB:
Lessons learned from marshalling five matriculation ceremonies today:
1. Contrary to popular opinion, queuing does NOT come naturally to all Brits.
2. Teacher voice is needed to get everyone to (a) walk in the direction they need to, (b) stop when they need to, (c) go when they need to. We've got 600 people to file through this chapel, you're going to have to do the kindergarten snake and go down, turn 'round the column, come back up, all the way up, to me, all the way to me, and then turn and go back down, turn left at the statue, c'mon back up, and THEN into the cathedral.
3. Dressing for the rain isn't enough. You need to dress for the bloody wind coming through the wind tunnel the doors form.
4. Once the queue is going, all you really need to do is stand with one arm outstretched, palm politely forward.
5. A black robe means you are a student.
6. A black robe with a commanding tone means you are a symbol of authority (see (2)).
7. A black robe and standing in front of the main entrance asking "Can I help you?" is not always enough to indicate that "You aren't allowed in this entrance if you don't give me the right answer".
8. Dyeing my hair has shaved a good 5-10 years off my age. I am now "young lady" again.
9. If you think "I wonder if I should bring a thermos of tea with me", the answer is always "yes".
10. They're so young, they're all so young.
11. I can't wait until next year.
