Nick is officially a student at Oxford.

Stella doing the sign for "tree" while looking at a tree.



By Liv

Yesterday, Nick Matriculated. Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list.

In the English universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol and Durham, the term is used for the ceremony at which new students are entered into the register of the university, at which point they become members of the university. Oxford requires matriculands to wear academic dress with subfusc during the ceremony.

At Oxford, new students gather at their prospective colleges for photos and at a specified time, they march together to the Examination School where they listen to some speeches and march back to their school.

The weather really couldn't have been any more perfect for the matriculation ceremony yesterday. It was crisp and cool with a lot of sunshine.

There are quite a few of these symbolic traditions that take place at Oxford University. They seem a little strange at first, but once you live in this culture, it all makes sense. Everything is about tradition and it's all very proper and interesting. I look forward to being part of the next big event.