What is the best memory your college life?

In my final year of my program, I somehow managed to get my life more or less in order and deliver a final thesis that had caused me only a little stress, and one which I was broadly happy with. After I delivered my thesis presentation, my classmates and I were just about to leave the building when one of our lecturers came over to us and said that if we wanted to hang around, we could get our grades in about 20 minutes, after the markers finalised them. So a couple of us sat in the stairwell and chatted about how we’d improved, what we had planned for when we’d graduate, some of the PhD students wandered by to let us know that we’d done a good job, it all felt super calm and relaxing.

And then the head of the program came downstairs, sat down with a piece of paper, and told us both our marks. And as we sat there in shock, she reiterated to us that we’d both managed to get the highest possible grade (Class I). And we both slapped each other on the back in congratulations, then walked out of the building in a daze because neither of us were really expecting to do so well.

That moment of vindication from my teachers, who I’d grown to respect and admire over the four years that I’d worked with them - that they looked at my class and thought that there were actually some bright sparks in there, and not just a load of duffers - that was really special to me, and it made that entire year worth it.

/r/AskReddit Thread