My Graduation Day:  A Day to Remember?

Graduation day sucked.  The rain pelted down in smothering sheets, and the dreary sky set the stage for the entire day.    It was not a special occasion as others had rumored it to be.

I had to drive my elderly grandmother to my own graduation.  Just as any other day, she spoke in decibels beyond comprehension.  I already knew she was old; she didn’t have to remind me again on graduation day. That’s her daily routine; however, so I wasn’t surprised.  I had to match her volume for her to hear me as well.  It wouldn’t have been so bad, if not for her voice being right in my ear as she held my arm with an iron grip.  I could feel the blood pulsing through the veins in my arm.

After seating her, I went to the girls’ gym where the other graduates prepared.  The place bustled with people adjusting their gowns and pinning on flowers.  They were excited, but I didn’t really know how to feel.  For me, the ceremony wasn’t a big deal.  I didn’t feel as if it were a great accomplishment to graduate since billions of people do.  I wasn’t worried about missing high school.  I just intended to go through with the ceremony and be finished with it. 

            I felt like I arrived much sooner than necessary.  This feeling became stronger the longer I had to wait before we even started.  I just paced around.

            We finally did get lined up in our alphabetic glory.  Yet, it took a long time for my turn to walk in.  My last name resides close to the end of the alphabet.   By the time I entered, I was disgusted by the sound of “Pomp and Circumstance”.  Having to hear it so long cheapened the effect of the tune.

I didn’t realize there was so much stupid stuff that had to be done during a graduation ceremony.  I don’t remember what most of the stuff was.  There were some songs and awards I think.  Bored and annoyed, I sat on a cold, metal chair, waiting for my diploma.  I couldn’t wait until the ceremony ended.  I’d think after all this time sitting in school, the school officials could at least just hand us students our diplomas and clap.

As if it wasn’t enough that this ceremony was monotonous, it was also humid.  People sat and talked as they rattled their programs.  The people chattering, programs rattling, and sticky air hovering resulted in a headache for me.  The “one size fits all” cap I wore might have helped cause that headache as well; the cap reminded me of a surgeon’s cap.

Some girls thought they’d probably cry.  I was afraid I might, too.  I didn’t fear crying because of the overwhelming emotions associated with graduation as the girls did.  I just have a problem of crying when others do.  Some Valedictorians started to cry a little, but nobody cried as they thought they would.

After we newly graduated folks got diplomas, we went outside for the group pictures.  Chaos roared even more than before the ceremony.  Now family and friends of the graduates crowded the front of the school, in addition to the graduates themselves. 

I went through this ceremony only to claim graduation gifts and to be nice to any family members who wanted to watch me graduate.  I would have been happy to just claim my diploma in a five-minute ordeal.  Sometimes, I wonder if going through the dull ceremony was worth it.

At least I thought I looked good in my blue gown.  I wore it the rest of the day.  My mom took many pictures of me.

After leaving the school, I had to get bread for my grandma.  Since I didn’t feel like anything interesting had happened yet, I decided to wear my graduation gown to the carry out.  It wasn’t actually very different from buying bread without wearing a graduation gown.  The woman who worked behind the counter did mention that she too, had graduated.  I asked her if she bought bread after she graduated, and she said no.  Maybe her graduation was worse than mine!

I was disappointed with this whole day.  I don’t think I’ll ever know what people mean when they say an event was so great.  People build things up, like a graduation, far too much.  Perhaps if I hadn’t been exposed to rumors of the bliss found in a graduation ceremony, I wouldn’t have felt so poorly about this event.  Graduations, school plays, marriages, and childbirths occur all the time.  They aren’t a big deal!  These things just happen, and then they’re finished.

Written:  November 9, 2000