My name is called, and almost 2,000 people applaud. The Presiding Officer smiles warmly at me from across the stage and I’m suddenly acutely aware not just of my surroundings, but that there are a lot of people waiting to do what I am about to. I take a breath and smile back at Dr Rachel Penny, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Open University. It feels like it only takes a few seconds to reach Dr Penny, who shakes my hand, congratulates me and hands me a blue cardboard tube which turns out to contain a congratulatory note from the Chancellor of the University and a smart lapel badge. I thank her and take a split second before walking off the stage to look up, towards the back of The Barbican Hall and drink in the scene. The largest venue within the Barbican Centre is full and at that moment, it is celebrating my graduation.
Over the next few minutes three people with whom I have shared the journey will also cross the stage and be acclaimed for their achievements. These women have critiqued my writing and now know more about me than almost anyone in the world. They are incredibly important to me and the reason I am graduating in London rather than anywhere else.
I came to London so I could meet them in real life, as opposed to on WhatsApp.
These are the realities of an Open University graduation. We are but four of 324 students graduating this afternoon. Another two members of our Tutor Group – Josie and Juliet – had graduated during the Morning Ceremony, having been unable to get places alongside us during the afternoon because of a high demand for tickets. I shared breakfast with Josie and Juliet, who were staying in the same hotel as me in Shoreditch.
Our ceremony was a mixture of pageantry, playfulness and pathos. Like all universities, the Open University conducts its ceremonies with a certain amount of pomp; the senior staff enter behind the University Mace, in procession. Graduates are presented in a strict hierarchy; those receiving a Doctorate have their full thesis title read out and are then guided to a seat on the stage alongside the top brass. Then, those receiving a Master of Arts degree, as we were, go next, in groups based on their subject. Because ‘Creative Writing’ and my surname (Coates) are both early in the alphabet, I found myself being one of the first people to have my qualification conferred. As the ceremony continues, some streamlining occurs; those receiving Batchelor’s degrees are called in larger groups without being broken up into individual courses. After all those students have enjoyed their moment, students collecting Foundation Degrees or a Diploma in Higher Education process in the same way.
But, during the ceremony, there are moments of comedy and high emotion. During her opening speech, Dr Penny had encouraged graduates to cross the stage in whichever way they felt most comfortable and suggested she was hoping to see some exuberant acceptances. One woman attempted to back-flip her way to the Presiding Officer; her first two tries were unsuccessful, and she lost her Academic Dress along the way. Happily, she completed the summersault at the third time of asking, to an enormous cheer. She did ‘The Worm’ the rest of the way to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor before leaving the stage.
There were bittersweet moments, too. During our ceremony, three students were represented by their families, having passed away between the completion of their studies and Graduation Day. Each time this happened, the applause was longer and louder than for a conventional presentation, as everyone present attempted to honour the graduate and support their loved ones in the only way they could, a cacophonous acclamation.
I was grateful to have half our Tutor Group behind me when my moment came. Because of the logistics of going back to London to graduate despite having three children at home, I didn’t have any guests at the Barbican and we had arranged a respite stay for our son before planning the trip. Having people I knew, albeit via thousands of WhatsApp messages, with me kept nerves at bay.
After the ceremony, Ceridwen, Josie, Beth and myself, plus various family members, partners and friends, descended on the Sutton Arms near Barbican Tube Station. It turned out that, once everyone had found the pub, our extended group took over about half the bar area. The formalities over, drinks and conversation flowed freely. It was lovely and made me think of something Dr Penny had said at the beginning of the ceremony. She had referred, more than once, to ‘the OU Family’ and encouraged us to use the hashtag #OUFamily on social media. Having developed a special interest in genealogy, I know that a family takes many forms. My immediate OU Family is my Tutor Group; not just Beth, Ceridwen, Josie, Juliet and Rosie, but those who couldn’t be in London last weekend, Chioma Shirley and Nadine. I am a better writer because of their feedback and encouragement and a better bloke for knowing them. Being a graduate of the UK’s largest university also makes me part of a huge community; the extended OU Family, if you like. I am enormously proud to have obtained my MA in Creative Writing and couldn’t have wished for a better writing community to be part of. I hope that we’ll continue to encourage each other, support each other and challenge each other for years to come.