Lilia and Darren volunteered at Commemoration Day in October 2024, which saw 3500 graduands awarded their degrees. Volunteers are essential to the successful running of the event and take on roles including crowd management around the South Kensington Campus, supporting on the information desks, ticket scanning at the receptions, and stewarding the livestream screening. Details of how to get involved at the 2025 ceremonies can be found at the end of the article.
Getting to know Imperial
Lilia, an international student on the Science Communication MSc course, chose to volunteer at graduation to get to know Imperial better.
“As a new student, I thought volunteering would be a good way to get to know the campus, to meet new people, and to learn more about Imperial. It delivered on all those things!”
She said one of the best things about the day was seeing how excited people were to graduate.
“It was really fun being unofficial photographers for the day and taking pictures of people with their families. For a lot of people, it was the first time their parents were seeing where their child had been studying and living for several years.”
Darren is a first-year undergraduate in the Department of Computing who saw the opportunity on a poster in the Sherfield Building.
“I volunteered a lot in my home country of Hong Kong and really enjoyed the experience – in particular, volunteering with dogs at a local shelter. I didn’t know the UK or Imperial very well and thought that volunteering at Commemoration Day would be a great way to get to know the place.”
Experience highlights
There are lots of roles for volunteers to get involved with, from directing guests to answering questions, and even placing the programmes down at the Royal Albert Hall. Lilia said this was one of her favourite moments from the day.
“It was amazing to get a sneak peek of the hall before anyone had arrived. The way they decorate the space is really special and it felt like a momentous occasion.”
Lilia says one of her highlights from her student experience is realising how much she enjoys her studies and being on a programme that has been well thought out.
“You can tell the lecturers have put a lot of time and care into their modules. They’re really interested in sharing their knowledge and ideas. My cohort is full of interesting people too and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know them.”
Outside of her studies, Lilia is involved in a book club and has supported the Friday Forums, part of the Good Science project, and Imperial Lates. Later this year she will also volunteer at the Great Exhibition Road Festival.
For Darren, his highlight from volunteering at graduation was being able to use his language skills to translate for graduands and their guests.
“I speak English, Cantonese and Mandarin which came in really handy when answering questions from guests, especially with those who were from the older generation. I think it made people more comfortable and it helped with answering their queries more quickly.”
Alongside his studies, Darren is a member of the DoCSoc, the Department of Computing’s student society. Next year he will serve as the society’s Marketing and Publicity Officer, as well as the Departmental Wellbeing Rep. One of his highlights from Imperial so far is taking part in IC Hack 25, the largest student-run hackathon in Europe which was hosted by DocSoc.
Get involved
Lilia and Darren both recommend volunteering at graduation.
Lilia said: “When you volunteer, you get to know a lot of staff and students that you wouldn’t otherwise get to meet or work with. It’s also great to know that when I graduate, there’ll be plenty of volunteers on hand on the day to help out.”
Darren added: “One of the volunteers I met is graduating next year, so I hope to volunteer at their graduation too.”
Volunteers are provided with a free lunch and snacks on the day and can sign up for shifts that work around their commitments. To say thank you, all volunteers are invited to a special event a few weeks after graduation. This year, every volunteer who signs up and attends their shift will also be entered into a prize draw, with a double chance of winning if they volunteer for both days.
Find out more about volunteering at graduation.