30th October 2025

Our daughter Selina invited us to attend her degree ceremony at the Birmingham Symphony Hall. She was to receive not one, but three awards. Two Master of Arts to add to her existing collection of MAs, and a Doctorate in Education for a thesis entitled Predicting drop-out in Toastmasters.

The two of us plus Phil headed up to Birmingham, and eventually managed to park in Arena Birmingham (South Car Park). We had a short walk along the canal to Symphony Hall where us three drank coffee. Selina in the meantime went off to check in and put on graduation robes. Selina was then photographed by us. We also downloaded an app which allowed us to take a photograph, and pickup a free printed copy within minutes!

The Ceremony

It was then ceremony time, we left to go to our seats, while Selina went to sit in her designated place in the stalls. We were in the gods above and looked down on her.

The ceremony started and groups of students were ushered out of the hall to wait in the side wings. They were then called to receive their reward. The higher degrees were awarded first, so Selina was in the first group. As she was now a Doctor, she then spent the rest of the ceremomy sitting on the stage. Those who received lesser awards were ushered back to their seats after receiving their rewards.

After the ceremony we all shared glasses of fizz and toasted the new graduates. We chatted to Prof Bart R who has helped Selina enormously these past few years.

It was now evening, so we went for a meal. This part of Birmingham is stacked out with eateries, we chose Celebrity Indian Balti, an upstairs cool, contemporary Indian restaurant and bar, offering both classic dishes and innovative cuisine.

Gallery