no. 25 - have my graduation photo taken (achieved 25 Ocober 2012)

As a matter of fact I only partially achieved this one, because I didn't have an actual, official, me holding my rolled up degree shot. However, I did at least go to my graduation and have photos taken, which was more than I managed the first time I got a degree. So I am totally counting this one, not least because there is absolutely no chance of me graduating again.

My degree was a Bachelor of Nursing in Mental Health (a change of career from my One Thing To Before I Turn 50 list) from Edinburgh Napier University. I loved being a student again and made some wonderful friends. Here I am with my lovely chum Beth just after we collected our gowns. The gowns were great and we had a lot of fun pretending to be dementors later on.

 

The degree ceremony was at the Usher Hall in the centre of Edinburgh - here we are on the steps before we went in. We had just been sitting outside the pub in the sunshine, which shone most obligingly.

There now follows a small boasty paragraph where I tell you that not only did I get my degree with Distinction, but also I was awarded the class medal.

 

 

There are no photos of me getting my degree although there is a video somewhere on the university website. After the ceremony we went to Napier's Craicklockhart campus, where we had most of our lectures in first year, for drinks and nibbles and patting ourselves on the back and celebrating our utter brilliance. Here I am with my husband, Philip and my daughter, Charlotte.

We finished up meeting my other children for a meal at Chop Chop in Leith, which seems to have become a family favourite. My daughter, Polly, had come down from Aberdeen to surprise me. We very rarely manage to have all six of us under the same roof these days so it was the perfect end to a great day. And a pretty good start to my bucket list.