The last couple of weeks have been a complete whirlwind. Between the graduation ceremony, senior activities, and all the graduation parties that have taken place, it’s all gone by so quickly. So here I am, almost 2 weeks later, writing a blog post. I finally have the time and motivation to sit down, write, and walk you through the lifetime milestone known as my high school graduation.
For the first time in awhile, the ceremony was actually an afternoon ceremony, starting at 2pm. The school didn’t reserve the normal venue in time, so we were at a different venue along the same performing arts complex as well as at a different time. We were required to arrive at 1pm, but this still meant that we could all sleep in and have time to get ready and look nice for the ceremony. I woke up and got ready, and, after a few takes, I put on a dress that worked with my graduation gown. I grabbed some coffee from Starbucks. Because coffee is life.
We drove downtown to the venue, arriving promptly at 1:00. I went in the stage door and was instructed to go to a room where they would take my picture. So I went to the room, put my cap and gown on, and got in line to take my picture. The rest of the time was spent lining up in our rows and waiting for people to arrive. Man, I don’t think I knew how many people could be so late. I appropriately began thinking about how many of these people are so smart, yet can’t be on time. The whole “I have book smarts, but not school smarts” stereotype applies here.
Finally, the time began to come to process on the stage. Everyone had arrived and we were all lined up and ready to go. We processed onto the stage as the infamous graduation song played, “Pomp and Circumstance”. As any school sanctioned event starts, the concert choir sang the national anthem. The audience was instructed to turn off their cell phones and all that jazz, and we were instructed to be seated. With that, the ceremony began.
First, there was a speech from the student body president, and then a student band sang a song. The salutatorian spoke, and the choir sang “I Lived” by One Republic which also happened to be our class song. Afterwards, the valedictorian gave his speech, then another group (consisting of a few of my friends) performed their rendition of “Future Looks Good” by One Republic. Notice a pattern here? They had to break up all of the speeches with other performances. Next, it was time for the guest speaker, who was a local sports journalist who also happened to have a son graduating. We all felt kinda bad for his son, because he was telling some stories about his childhood and the kid pooping all over. The coolest part was he passed around a football that had already been signed by Broncos greats like Peyton Manning and John Lynch. Alongside their signatures, we all got to sign the football.
After that, a district school board member had to “accept” us as graduates who had completed the requirements which seemed a little strange. We all wondered if anyone had ever said no, but that seems doubtful. Nevertheless, we were accepted, and then our names started to be called, and one by one we stood by row and walked across the stage as our names were called. We received the diploma casing and paused for another picture as we were receiving it. We then turned our tassels and threw up our hats. The band started playing a song, and we processed out. We returned to the same room that the pictures were in, and this Is where re received an envelope with our actual diploma as well as other important information like transcripts.
Once that was done, I went to find my family. Once I found them, we took what seemed like hundreds of pictures outside the venue. We walked back to the cars and met each other for dinner. We ate and then went home. Once home, the graduation party craze began. There were a good amount of parties that night, including one of my better friends. So I drove to the party, hung out there for a bit, and then came home. I got ready for bed, and that was the entirety of my graduation day.
