Ah, matriculation. As I mentioned in a previous post, the actual act of matriculation involved me signing my name to a sheet of paper. But there’s quite a bit more to it than that. First and foremost, it involves this massive photograph taken outside on St. John’s Backs (possibly the only time outside of summer we’re allowed to walk on the grass). The photo gets together all Freshmen undergraduates and postgraduates (as well as various Senior Tutors and Fellows) for a group photo. See above for an example.
There are dress code requirements. Men must wear suits and ties. Women must wear white blouses, black shirts, and black tights. Everyone MUST wear their gown. Then—somehow, miraculously—we’re organized into alphabetical order and ushered through rapid-fire individual photographs before being directed to our place in the photograph (luckily for me, I didn’t have to stand on the bleachers). Since it went in anti-alphabetical order, I was one of the first people place, which meant I had to wait ages for everyone else to get together. Thankfully I was standing next to some very interesting grads I had met before, including a guy from the Netherlands and a guy from Italy.
After quite a bit of waiting, and various reminders to stand between the shoulders of the people in the row in front of us, we were ready. The photographer took about ten photographs in about two minutes, so the actual photo shoot took no time at all. Unfortunately for all us with long-ish hair, it was an incredibly windy day (however, this made our gowns billow out in a dramatic fashion, so that was kind of cool—see above).
The photo was followed by a brief mass in St. John’s chapel. The Gents (our choir) sang. They were incredibly, especially a young boy who never seemed to run out of oxygen and who hit incredibly high notes. Our Chaplain read from A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which was awesome (Douglas Adams was a St. John’s graduate…apparently he was a poor student (awesome gossip abounds)).
Before dinner I joined fellow students for a wine reception with our Tutor. Yes, once more, Johnians do enjoy bonding over alcohol. Dinner was fantastic. I somehow got placed at the High Table which is usually reserved for Fellows and (on rare occasions) graduate students. I was sitting next to my Tutor and a rather lively Gent.
Check out the awesome menu:
Minestrone Soup with Dunryse Blue Cheese Straws
Roast Breast of Guinea Fowl with Grape & Cream Sauce
Panache of Celeriac, Carrots, and Turnips
Spiced Pineapple with White Chocolate Sorbet & Candied Ginger
Dessert Bowl of St. John’s Truffles & Coffee
Chateau Patache d’ Aux Medoc 2000
Dow Ruby Port
Fancy schmancy, right? And John’s has really, really good food. I think I may have to eat in Hall every night. My favorite part is the tradition. We MUST wear robes to eat in Hall. And then someone clangs a gong and everyone has to stand while they read a Latin prayer. When they bang the gong again later in the meal (even if you have a mouthful of food), you have to stand in silence again for the prayer. You’re not allowed to take pictures or, as I just found out, go to the bathroom until the Fellows leave.
Once we’d sealed the deal with a meal (whoa, totally did not intend for that all to rhyme), we officially become Johnians. We are joining the likes of (as mentioned) Douglas Adams, William Wordsworth, Manmohan Singh (current PM of India), John Couch Adams (he discovered Neptune), Patrick Bronte (father of the Bronte sisters), three saints, and eight Nobel Prize Winners. A lot to live up to…but I’m ready for it.
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