Graduation

The first of May is an important day for the senior students of Refi. They have a farewell ceremony before their final exams to say goodbye to the school, their fellow students and their teachers. In Hungarian it’s called ballagás (closest word in English is graduation). The school was decorated with beautiful flowers. They were laid down on a line in the ground, on the floors and on the stairwells at school. The graduating classes had their classrooms decorated and these were decorated by fellow students.

The day before the ceremony was the senior students last day of school. There is a tradition called the ‘Farewell Bell’ where the students ring the school bell and then they receive a ceramic bell from the headmaster with the school name and the year they graduated.  There were a total of 86 students graduating and some students were louder at ringing the bell than others!

That week I received bottles of wine from the two graduating classes. On one of the bottles I also was given a leather pencil case with my initials on it, which I’m so pleased about. One wine was Hungary's famous Tokaj wine (sweet white) and another was white wine which was homemade in Tolcsva, a small village not so far from Sárospatak. I felt pleased but sad because I knew I would miss the students and the school would be quiet without them.

The farewell ceremony started with the students and their form teachers walking down the school stairs, out of the school, the school yard and then out of the gate to the church. I walked with some colleagues to church and we sat upstairs. The ceremony lasted about two hours, but I think most people started to get restless. There was a farewell speech by one of the school’s top students and another student gave a speech to his graduating classmates. Prizes were also awarded to three students who had excelled in school and in competitions. Eventually the ceremony ended and it continued with a procession throughout the main streets of Sárospatak and into the school garden. My friend and I went for an ice cream. By the time we came back the students were returning to the school where they would have photos taken by their families. All of the students said hello, smiled or waved at me – it was very sweet.

This is a tradition that happens every year in Hungary and in my opinion it is a lovely tradition. It is a good way to say goodbye to your school, plus there are a lot of beautiful flowers!

Below are some photos I managed to get from the day. You can check out the professional photographs on this Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.681239865336139.1073741937.207643612695769&type=3