As I attended numerous graduations last week, I couldn’t help but notice how each one is unique in its own way.
For example: Black Butte High School in Rock Springs allows each graduate to pick who they want to hand them their diploma. Some select their parents or a sibling, while others chose their favorite teacher. It truly is one of the most emotional ceremonies I’ve attended.
Another example is how graduates at Farson-Eden High School pass out flowers to every person who they felt impacted their life in some special way. They also have a slide show with several photos for each student while someone, usually a teacher, tells the audience something special about each and every graduate. This ceremony leaves you feeling like you personally know each graduate even if you haven’t even met them.
While these are personal and unique, it’s just something that not every school could do. Could you image how long a ceremony like that would take at Green River High School or Rock Springs High School? I can. It would take up most of the day. While these personal ceremonies are ideal for smaller classes like Black Butte with 25 and Farson-Eden with 17, it’s just not something bigger graduating classes could do.
Does that make them any less special? I don’t think so at all.
After all, the day is about each student’s individual success on making it to graduation. For some, the road was difficult and filled with numerous breakdowns over trying to get their homework done. For others, high school seemed like a breeze. Regardless of the path taken, they all made it to the end. The reward is amazing. They are high school graduates. Why is this so important today? For the answer, look at the want ads. Almost all of them require a high-school diploma of high-school diploma equivalent.
I don’t think when I graduated high school I understood just how important this step in my life was. I knew it was important. I knew it was something I had to do in order to go to college, but I don’t think I grasped how different my life would have been had I not graduated high school.
To me it seemed like it was just something everyone did. I grew up in a small town and at that time it was practically unheard to have someone in your class not graduate. It was just something you did. I can remember that in my class there were two or three who didn’t walk across the stage to receive a diploma and people were shocked. It was the town’s gossip for weeks.
I can also recall both of my graduations in detail. My first was high school. I can remember thinking “don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry” as I played my alto saxophone with the awarding-wining band one last time. I can still remember saying to myself “stop crying, stop crying, stop crying,” as I sat in the row listening to our class song “I Will Remember You,” by Sarah Mclachlan played. I mean if they didn’t want me to cry, why did our class pick such a sappy, sad song about remembering each other.
Yes. That was me. I was the crier at the high school graduation. I tried to stop, but I kept thinking of all the fun I had with my classmates and how that was coming to an end and the waterworks just kept going. I can remember a couple of my guy friends turning around and telling me jokes in an effort to get me to stop, but then I was laughing, snorting and crying all at once. I think every class has a crier. For my class, it was me. It was odd though because I was never one to cry like that. It shocked me more than my classmates I think.
As for that graduation, I can still recall that our class flower was a white rose dipped in emerald green. Can I recall our motto? Nope. I guess that wasn’t the phrase I had voted for or I probably would have remembered it.
After gradation, I went on to college. A four-year university. I was the first one in my family to do so and obtain a bachelor’s degree. I can also remember this gradation too. I was among 1,200 graduating. It was hot out and the ceremony took place in the gym. I was so happy to graduate. I had worked so hard to finish in four years and I kept scanning the gym for my mom and dad. They were the only ones that could make it to the ceremony. I didn’t shed a tear at this ceremony. I wanted to enjoy it. And I did. I remember taking my time to pose for a photo with the president of the university while I received my diploma and I still have that photo.
It’s interesting to me now as I look back at both gradations and realize that both made me feel special. It didn’t matter what size of a group I was in, whether it be 120 or 1,200, I was walking across that stage to receive a diploma I worked hard to get. So the next time you’re at a graduation, think about how special you felt when you received your diploma and notice all the little things about the ceremony that makes it special. Those are the things you’ll remember later.
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