Graduation
High School Graduation with obligatory poor photos
Isn't high school graduation one of the most interesting of the standard milestones to watch? Thinking of all those young lives, full of the future and of themselves, where will they be in five years, or fifty years?
I recently went to my cousin's high school graduation ceremony. It reminded me of my own graduation, oh, 23 years ago (EEK!). Like me, she went to an "alternative" high school, where weirdness and individuality were important, where it was not uncool to be smart or passionate, and where sports were not a major event. I was so lucky. I can't even imagine going to a mega high school where there would be 700 kids in my graduating class; my graduating class was 39 people, my cousin's was 56.
These kids has been taught to value, and even flaunt, their individuality. It was even more apparent since they were not wearing caps and gowns. The outfits ranged from shorts and t-shirts to party dresses to one guy in a lavender zoot suit. The staff was similarly casual. Each teacher got up and introduced several of the students, then each student said a few words on their own behalf. It went on forever, in fact, I had to leave before my cousin was introduced so that I could pick up my husband from the airport. So I sat through one and a half hours of teachers rambling on about this or that student as if they were the greatest student ever (apparently they all were exceptional) and then listening to the students' speeches, which ranged from a one minute "Thank you all" to a long speech about growing and maturing. In fact, the teachers did 95% of the talking, kind of ironic for a ceremony that is supposed to be about the students and their self-expression.
Most of the students were headed off to a local community college, or were going to take some time off and figure out what they want to do. This was a major difference between them and my classmates, I think 95% of us went straight to college, if fact, it was really the only option. I can't imagine what I would have done freshly graduated from high school if I did not go to college. Then again, I ended up majoring in something that I made into my career that I now wish I had not picked.... oh well. Maybe I should have taken time off to figure out what I wanted to do, better at age 16 than age 35!
Isn't high school graduation one of the most interesting of the standard milestones to watch? Thinking of all those young lives, full of the future and of themselves, where will they be in five years, or fifty years?
I recently went to my cousin's high school graduation ceremony. It reminded me of my own graduation, oh, 23 years ago (EEK!). Like me, she went to an "alternative" high school, where weirdness and individuality were important, where it was not uncool to be smart or passionate, and where sports were not a major event. I was so lucky. I can't even imagine going to a mega high school where there would be 700 kids in my graduating class; my graduating class was 39 people, my cousin's was 56.
These kids has been taught to value, and even flaunt, their individuality. It was even more apparent since they were not wearing caps and gowns. The outfits ranged from shorts and t-shirts to party dresses to one guy in a lavender zoot suit. The staff was similarly casual. Each teacher got up and introduced several of the students, then each student said a few words on their own behalf. It went on forever, in fact, I had to leave before my cousin was introduced so that I could pick up my husband from the airport. So I sat through one and a half hours of teachers rambling on about this or that student as if they were the greatest student ever (apparently they all were exceptional) and then listening to the students' speeches, which ranged from a one minute "Thank you all" to a long speech about growing and maturing. In fact, the teachers did 95% of the talking, kind of ironic for a ceremony that is supposed to be about the students and their self-expression.
Most of the students were headed off to a local community college, or were going to take some time off and figure out what they want to do. This was a major difference between them and my classmates, I think 95% of us went straight to college, if fact, it was really the only option. I can't imagine what I would have done freshly graduated from high school if I did not go to college. Then again, I ended up majoring in something that I made into my career that I now wish I had not picked.... oh well. Maybe I should have taken time off to figure out what I wanted to do, better at age 16 than age 35!
posted by Shelly at 6:09 AM
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