norelle & co.

This past Monday was my graduation from McMaster University, where I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in History.  I really did not know what to expect at the ceremony.  The only thing I knew is that it would be long, and Steve Smith was our honorary degree recipient.  There were a lot of graduands to receive their degree, and the theatre was absolutely packed!! Luckily my husband got into the theatre as soon as the doors opened, and found seats for himself and my parents only 3 rows back from me (since I was in the last row).


Steve Smith is an acclaimed Canadian comedian, who was made especially famous for his character Red Green.  His speech was honest and real, which was great to hear; no sugar coating but still funny.  There were other speeches, including the Valedictorian and President of the University's.  The ceremony started at 2:30 (I had been waiting in a room lined up since 1:00pm... in heels no less), and the ceremony did not end until just after 5:00pm. Wayyyy longer than they expected.  The one thing that got me through the ceremony, was sitting only a few feet infront of Ryan Gosling  the whole time ;).  His mom was graduating with us; he even yelled out, "love you mom! you're the best mom ever!" when she was receiving her degree. He was quite nice "eye candy" if you will, during the long ceremony!  I wasn't able to record Steve Smith's speech to our class, nor could I find it online; so I will leave you with one of my favorite and most inspirational of graduation speeches by Baz Luhrmann.