Grad Ball 2013

An 8am wakeup call on a Saturday should never be the way that you start a weekend. But it is the way that mine started.

It was quickly followed by a 9am trip into town which lasted a lot longer than I expected, which in turn was followed by a rushed lunch before kissing Grant goodbye and making my way to the Monument for what was to be a very, very long day.

And yet, I soldiered on to the point where I found myself, without quite recalling how I got to be there, sitting behind a laptop at a desk, checking people into their Graduation Ball. The streams of people flew past me in a blur of glamour, beauty and alcohol as I assigned tables and passed along wine to those who were celebrating growing up while I was trying to slow down as fast as possible, my 25th birthday having just rolled around.

   
Once all were in, it was time to capture some of that magic, which I managed to do as best as I could without a flash and without the low-light saviour of my lens collection, which decided to give up the ghost when I needed it most.

 

I ended up experiencing my second graduation in a very different way to my first, from a behind the scenes vantage point. And it really made me see my own graduation in a different light. For once, I was seeing what went into making the night magical and spectacular rather than just accepting it as being that way. And so, even though I am not officially part of them, and probably because I am not, I think that the Round Table of Grahamstown deserves a giant THANK YOU for the effort that they put into making the night as special as it is for all of those involved, from helping out to taking part.

Thank you, on behalf of the year of 2009 who didn't have a chance to, and the year of 2013 who have yet to realise what it means.