Today is the last day of August, which, according to my calculations, means that tomorrow is the first day of September. Last week the kids started to go back to school and some of course started for the first time. I think the schools vary in the timetable for new arrivals and returning students, but they’re basically all operating fully from tomorrow, Monday 1st September.
Universities start back a little later, though this also varies. In Maynooth, Orientation Week (for new students) begins on September 15th, and lectures commence for all years on September 22nd, which happens to be the day of the Autumnal Equinox. My first lecture of the new academic year is on that day. I don’t know how many students I’ll have in my class yet. It’s a 4th-year class, and those students don’t register for modules until Friday 12th September, at the end of a week that begins with new students starting to enrol on Monday 8th September.
The first week of September will therefore be a bit quieter in the University than in the local schools. Next week sees a number of conferring ceremonies at which students who completed their studies with the examinations in May will receive their degrees. That includes a number of Physics students, who will graduate on Wednesday 3rd September. Unfortunately, when I tried to register to attend the ceremony, a few weeks ago, I was unable to because it was booked up so I’ll have to send my congratulations virtually. In any case, Conferring ceremonies at Maynooth are not what they used to be. Instead of the atmospheric surroundings of the Aula Maxima, they are now held in the soulless environnment of a lecture theatre. Instead of a nice buffet reception afterwards the graduates used to get, they now get a cup of tea in a paper cup and (if they’re lucky) a very small Danish pastry. It’s quite embarrassing actually. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in future, graduands were told to being their own sandwiches and a thermos flask. Anyway, a PhD student of mine will attend a conferring ceremony at the end of October. I’ll have to ensure I register on time for that one as I will be reading out the title of her thesis. Our first cohort of MSc students will graduate then too.
In the Dark 