Just like
with every PhD, there were moments when Pascoe, and even Nigel and I, thought
the end would never come. Around the
end, progress slowed to a very slow sloth crawling up a steep tree bough in a
leisurely fashion.
But finally
on Saturday, graduation day had arrived and to cap it all, the letter appointing
Pascoe senior scientist at a biotech start-up arrived through his door at about
the same moment we did. So we were all
in ebullient mood.
The firm which
was hiring out the academic gowns for the ceremony clearly had a plan – a very
tight route from the hire-stand into McKewan Hall for the ceremony and then
straight back out to the stand again.
But Pascoe reasoned that he had paid good money for the hire and was
going to take his robes out for a spin.
We
processed through Edinburgh Christmas market where I had been drawn to the
twinkly lights like a consumerist moth, and then as the cold rain grew heavier,
into the National Gallery of Scotland where Pascoe posed with the great
art.
It was a lovely
experience as a number of strangers congratulated him and stopped for a
chat.
And Pascoe
certainly got the value out of his robes.
