Philosophical about ceremonies

A DJ who has supported chart-topping Kiwi band Six60 is taking in his stride the fact he cannot graduate from Otago Polytechnic as hoped today.

"It’s a bit of a shame but we just have to move on, look forward to the future and go on with what we came to do," James Woods, usually called Woody, said yesterday.

Events had also been postponed during the earlier Covid-19 lockdown, and he would be celebrating today with his mother, wife and family, despite the disruption.

Mr Woods said completing his bachelor of information technology degree was at times a tough task.

After shifting from South Auckland to Dunedin to tackle the degree in late 2016, he had experienced depression, and had to take a break from full-time studies, continuing part-time, with strong support from his family and his polytechnic teachers.

Once a high school drop-out, he was proud of his achievements, which showed it was a misconception that IT was "only for geeks and brainy people".

Otago Polytechnic nursing graduate Sarah Boomer said while she was disappointed her ceremony today had been postponed, it was wrong to feel too sorry for herself because it had been a "difficult year for everyone".

"You’ve just got to make the most of it."

Miss Boomer, who starts a job in Central Otago next year, said her parents and grandparents had come to Dunedin anyway, and she was looking forward to spending time with them.

St Bernadette’s School principal Debbie Waldron said the school held a special graduation parade for one of its staff members whose graduation ceremony on Wednesday, for a bachelor of education degree from the University of Otago, was postponed.

Ms Waldron said Ria Doppenberg (21) came to St Bernadette’s as a third-year teacher trainee this year and was employed as a teacher aide for term 4.

"The school came together today to celebrate with a parade for Ria with music, clapping and lots of cheering."

Kelk Photography co-owner Kerry Crosland said the impact of the postponements had been minimal for the business so far because families had still travelled to Dunedin and gone ahead with their photos.

However, she had lost faculty photo bookings as a result of the postponement of today’s polytechnic ceremony.

Ms Crosland said the company’s job diary looked like a "total fiasco" with all the ceremony postponements this year, with some bookings cancelled and rebooked several times.

She hoped the uncertainty around the security threat was quickly resolved so that bookings over the next fortnight could go ahead, but the "most important thing is that people were safe".

 - A full list of graduands can be found in today's Otago Daily Times newspaper