Especially for those who wish to live vicariously:

So that was it.

It is all officially over.

I had my Leavers' Service on Friday, and the Leavers' Ball last night.

The Service wasn't as dramatic as I thought it would be, and no one really cried*. Infact, it only hit me when we 6th formers were filing in to the Cathedral and everyone was looking at us, both pupils and our teachers. That made it clear that it was our big day and that we'd never all be here again.

*By that I mean really crying, with tears streaming.

The Service itself was good. Thankfully the hymns included Jerusalem, and I Vow to Thee My Country, which are both favourites of generally everyone, especially the Geeky Boys. Imagine a rowdy drunken(sounding) chorus rising from behind us.

The guest speaker however was not.
Patronising, coercive, and so out of touch. And annoyingly repetative.
(Er, FYI No girls like Ronan Keating. Yes, we understand how a rollercoaster is a metaphor for life, you dont have to explain fifteen times. And if you ask "What next?!" one more time I'm pretty certain someone will bat you over the head with the House Cup.)

Incidently, my House didn't win the House Cup this year, so A (House Captain) was dissappointed (I'm assuming), but one of the four Houses won it for the first year EVER, so my friend AT (House Captain) was extremely happy (I'm assuming).

And then it came.
That moment which signifies not only the end of the year, but the fact that the upper 6th are leaving the school to go out into the world. And also the moment which N was dreading as she knew it would set her off.
It was the final hymn, Onward Christian Soldiers.
As the whole school sung, we processed out into the Cathedral forecourt, pausing only to shake the Canon's hand in the porch.

Surprisingly, there were hardly any tears at this point. Normally all the girls cry, and some of the boys, but for our year hardly anyone did.
B (the head girl) did outside straight after, and N did a little.

We all stayed out in the forecourt in the rain for a while, chatting, hugging, and photoing. And then everyone went their seperate ways.

Actually, most of us ended up in the Noodle Bar, where so many birthday and regular lunches were spent.
We took over the entire top floor, where the most depressing CD in the world was playing. Cry till you Die Volume 3, including Sinead O'Connor and James Blunt.
How apt.

After that, I picked up my tux, bought a large glass object, and eventually got home.

Saturday evening was the ball.
I am so glad I ignored the warnings of the guys in Moss Bros and wore a Cravat with my Tux. Apparently it's not convention. But I'm not conventional, I'm Individual.

As I walked up to the car, AT was telling R (her boyfriend) off for "not wearing a fancy tie like that" and wearing a bow tie instead.
And as I got in the car she said "Impressive".
I nearly fainted, normally it's always insults from her.

And then as I walked into the hall, I was met with a chorus of "eeees" and "awws" from the girls. Apparently I looked, "cute", "sexy", "grrr", "handsome", and even "very dapper".
Seriously, I highly recomend this with a tux.

During the meal, comedy duo D and D decided to hand out the awards.

With our yearbook entries, we had to vote in polls for such things as "Most likely to end up in rehab" and "Most likely to marry a footballer".

When it came round to a certain award, most people turned to me.
To be honest I thought I'd win it after the reputation I had somehow built at school**.
And then D and D announced, in 3rd place, blah.
In 2nd place it was blah.
But the award for "Most Vain Person" goes to [Azuric]!

On the wall right next to me was a mirror and I couldn't resist, so as soon as my name was announced, I got up and pretended to be checking my hair and Cravat before going up to collect my certificate whilst everyone clapped and some cheered.

N won "Party Animal", which I knew she wanted, and R won "Most Likely to Lose their Driving Licence".

The final and "most important award" as announced by D was "Who Won the (Geek-Jock) Sofa War"
"And the winners are...the...G...G...Greatest people in the 6th form centre, the Jocks!"

WHATEVER! That was so rigged. There are more Geeks then there are Jocks. Fact.

**This involves 2 major incidents along with general vanity.
Once in Chemistry we were meant to be looking through Cobalt blue glass at a Bunsen flame, but my Chemistry teacher (and Personal tutor) caught me checking my hair. And took great pleasure in telling everyone in the staffroom.
And then soon after in Biology my teacher stuck a photo of me on the mirror because I apparently looked at it too much.
Awww good times. So many funny memories.

After the meal, we all hit the floor and danced the night away.
The DJ was really good. Best one that's been at a private party.
Although he didn't have mine and N's song, Indeep - Last night a DJ saved my life.
He started off with RnB and Hip-Hop but moved into Indie, Rock and Emo, House, and then a few slow songs before ending the night with obligatory School Cheese.

Near the start he dropped Punjabi MC's Mundian To Bach Ke and everyone loved it.
It reminded me how this school is so fantastic. Everyone is so open and accepting with different people and cultures.
It was great, the Indian boys crew who wore traditional Indian Kurtas were doing Bhangra, and everyone else was joining in.
The DJ also played The Killers - Mr Brightside. Needless to say the crowd went wild. That song reminds me of school so much.
There was circle dancing and even crowd surfing throughout the night, because there ain't no party like a [Azuric's School] party.

In the last hour the House moved into the School Cheese (Bryan Adams - Summer of 69, Queen - Don't stop me now, etc).

With just a few minutes of the night to go, and everyone of us in a circle the DJ played the last song of the night before reminding us how we will never all be together again, and this is the end of school (talk about building up the moment).

It was TakeThat's - Never Forget.

I cant listen to that song now.
It's so sad.
It just reminds me of the circle, of all my friends, people I may not see again, school itself, teachers, classes, the feeling of belonging to something, the community, everything.

I'm really proud of all my friends, the doctors, vet, architecht, chemists, biologists, historians, politicians, lawyers, business mongols, dentists, and more of tomorrow.

And that was it.

The end of an era.