Hi there again!!

I hope you guys have had a fantastic week because I did! Despite the changing weather, everything seems positive till date. Did you know that we had the Royals visiting Guildford..more specifically the University of Surrey last month? Yes we did! 😀

Surrey’s new School of Veterinary Medicine was officially opened on the 15^th October 2015 by Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.

I don’t know if it excites you…but I was very excited about being there to see Her Majesty at a close distance. To be honest the probability of seeing the Royals at Buckingham Palace is just so low..unless you are extremely lucky. So this was it..my chance to meet Her Majesty. It didn’t matter at that point of time that I was the only one among my friends who was excited about waiting there for an hour just to catch a glimpse of Her Majesty. The event was meant to happen from 11.30 till 12.30pm and students and staff who would like to be part of the crowd were asked to get in the line by 10.30am that morning. I was a little fickle minded about going because I wasn’t very sure where exactly the building was and none of my friends were free to join me…but I decided that I just had to go. I followed the crowd and made my way to the building. I was quite surprised that I was quite early and was able to stand on the first row behind the barriers. Then found out that I was at the exit instead and it would take at least an hour and a half for the Her Majesty to come out through the doors. I waited patiently and even made friends with an American born Chinese lady who happen to be in the UK for a conference and came all the way to Guildford to meet The Queen. We were entertained by another special guest, Joey from War Horse while everyone eagerly waited for the arrival of the Royals.

 

As part of the official opening, Her Majesty and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh toured the School and visited the Large Animal Clinical Skills Building where they met students working with animals and undertaking examinations. The Royals also viewed a demonstration in the Biomechanics Laboratory where they met the dogs that have benefitted from prosthetic limb surgery and the “Supervet” who made it possible. Before ending the tour, they also observed a teaching session in the Clinical Skills Laboratory.

 

Her Majesty then unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion and made her way through the doors ( this is where I was waiting..obviously behind the barriers). Although I happen to be at a strategic spot, ‘Joey’ had blocked my view slightly but I did manage to take a picture. Her Majesty did not come up to the crowd, however she did receive a bouquet of flowers from a child who was dressed up as a Queen.

The Duke on the other hand did come up closer to the crowd before the got into his car. It was an interesting day for me because I believe that was the closest I could get to the Royals and the crowd was much organised. This is definitely a memory that I would remember when I think about my UG life in the UK. On a side note, I still dream on meeting Prince William and Kate someday.

P/s: If you were thinking of studying Veterinary Medicine and Science, you can now consider Surrey as an option.

 

I hope this was a good read.

Thank you..till next time

(Photo credits: University of Surrey)