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Thousands of students, families and friends gathered this week to celebrate the accomplishments of the University of Toronto’s newest alumni.

And the white marquee known as Convocation Plaza played a particularly prominent role throughout the week, offering visitors a warm welcome along with the usual refreshments, photography and school merchandise from the �Թϱ��� Bookstore .

“People are elated that they are finally done, everyone has been so nice, and it’s been rewarding to see both graduates and their families from all over the world come through being so excited,” said student Revati Tilokani, a member of the bookstore staff. “Seeing all those graduating has made me excited about school and it’s been great motivation to really study in my classes.

“Seeing everyone’s hard work pay off has been awesome.”

Elina Cook, who received her master's of science in medical biophysics, said �Թϱ���’s consistently high performance in rankings led her to pursue studies here. Cook, who recently accepted a research position at Sick Kids Hospital, had some advice for prospective students.

“Take the time to look into the people that are leading the research and science, or whatever you are interested in, and see if you can work with them,” Cook said, “because �Թϱ��� houses so many people that are doing amazing things on a world scale.”

For Katherine La Rocca, who received her master's of information, convocation marked the end of a journey that was long but fulfilling. 

“I did my undergrad at �Թϱ��� so heading into my master’s I already knew it was a great school,” La Rocca said. “This is also one of the few schools in Canada that has the Faculty of Information and it’s my hometown so I feel connected to the city and the university; it just made sense to come here. 

“Looking back, I would reach back to my undergrad to find my favourite moment. There was a particular Latin class that had a good group of people and a great professor and we just had excellent classes, like Winnie the Pooh in Latin.”

Receiving her master's in English felt like a significant accomplishment, said Sarah Powell, and she urged current students to take advantage of every opportunity at �Թϱ���.

“Realize how privileged you are to get to go to university,” Powell said, “and even though it's really hard sometimes just try to enjoy every second and take in as much as you can from these brilliant people that you are surrounded with.”  

Convocation is just the beginning of the next phase, said Thanaro Rajalculenduan, who received his MSc in molecular phylogenetics

“It feels great to graduate, but I’m not done yet. I want to get my PhD.”

Check out more scenes from fall convocation, captured and shared on social media: