The Otago Polytechnic "catch-up" graduation ceremony was held as a one-off event, after the ceremony scheduled for last December was postponed until March 2022, and then cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bachelor of nursing graduand Zoe Melrose said it was exciting to finally don a graduation gown, although she and fellow Dunedin graduand Juliet Pattison had been working as nurses for eight months.
Miss Pattison said it had been a long three years of training, with the pandemic causing placements to be altered and some learning to take place online.
"[We’re] finally having that moment, getting to walk across the stage."
Those lending support came from both near and far.
Laurence Voight, of Dunedin, was "very proud" of daughter Laura Voight, a bachelor of design (fashion) graduand who was the first in his family to get a degree.
After a parade along George St, the graduation ceremony was held in the Dunedin Town Hall.
Guest speaker and Dunedin city councillor Marie Laufiso said study was a challenge at the best of times, and praised the endurance of the graduands in persevering through the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was also poignant occasion given the impending merger with national mega-polytechnic Te Pukenga, shesaid.
"Today is the last graduation of the Otago Polytechnic as we’ve known her."
Discussing the issues of racism and sexism in the workplace, she cautioned graduands to be careful how they deployed their personal power as they moved into the next phase of their lives.
