Matriculation Ceremony

October 18th was a memorable day. ‘Matriculation’ at Oxford University is a ceremony in which new students are entered into the register (in Latin matricula) of the university, at which point they become members of the university. Most of us from the Orient confuse ‘Matriculation’ to ‘Graduation’ which actually comes at the end of the course. All of us matriculands are required to wear academic dress with sub-fusc during the ceremony. All of us students assembled early in the morning for a group photograph in our colleges and were later led by our Dean to the Examination Schools on High St. for the ceremony.

On this day, the streets of Oxford were filled with students in their academic dresses, happy and joyful and sometimes waving to the crowds as if they were celebrities We looked liked characters straight out of the Harry Potter novel. Some of us were even requested by tourists to pose with them for souvenir pics ! The sub-fusc experience is definitely an ‘Oxford experience’.

Saïd Business School Peer Support Group

The MBA journey is likened to a ride on a roller coaster. It takes a lot of resilience to negotiate the twists and turns of this journey. Staying away from family, friends and a known environment can be really tough for some students. Things could become challenging with the course too. And at such times of distress, we tend to look for a confidant, an empathetic listener or a friend to just share what we are going through and open up avenues through conversations. The School and the University recognizes this and have been running the Peer Support programme to fulfill this need.

The Peer Support Group in the Saïd Business School is composed of students from the current MBA class who have joined the network to help peers on various personal/professional issues that MBA students encounter. I signed up to be a part of the group too. We have been trained by the University Peer Support counsel. Our group consists of members who are trained in basic listening and responding skills, and who are available in a supportive role to our peers. The training itself was a wonderful opportunity for all of us to meet and bond with some fellow classmates. For over a week during our trainings we had opportunities to share our lives, connect to each other and have a lot of fun too. Each of us is hoping to be able to touch and inspire fellow classmates during the next year.