Question Of The Day - Monday, June 3, 2019

Happy June! It might not be officially summer yet; but it feels like it here! It's also graduation season. I've seen everything from kindergarten and preschool graduations to university graduations. It had DH and I thinking about how long it's been since we were in school and how fast time goes now.



What do you remember about your graduations?



High school - it was HOT. 90s. And I was in a yellow polyester gown. I also remember trying to walk across the football field in my heels and the guy behind me saying "Don't worry; we'll catch you."

College - it was alright but mostly boring. I only had one other person graduating with the same focus as I was; and she went into labor the day before graduation so she wasn't there. I mean I was with plenty of other people I'd been in class with; but still. It was pretty lackluster. I was happy to wear my honor cords and stole because I earned those! But to be honest; I could have skipped it if my husband, mother and 3 of my siblings hadn't come. They wouldn't have let me.

My friend went to a big university that had 2 ceremonies; one for the entire university and one for each department. I only went to the department one because that was where students actually walked the stage to receive their degrees. That was still more interesting than my own graduation.

Kindergarten - I remember wearing a paper hat. And playing a triangle.

Preschool - My friend had RED dress shoes to go with her white dress. All of the rest of us little girls had white dresses with plain white patent leather shoes. But man we all LOVED her red shoes. I guess it goes to show; shoe envy starts young.

MoochNNoodles said:

High school

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MoochNNoodles said:

College

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MoochNNoodles said:

Kindergarten

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MoochNNoodles said:

Preschool

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You have graduations for all of those!?



I went to school in the UK, the only graduation we had was from uni.

I had to wear the proper cap and gown. After the awards ceremony we all did that thing where you throw your caps in the air for a photo. Those things are hard! I think they must have steel capped corners or something. I remember a few people getting some nasty bumps on their heads when the caps came back down again.

When I was a kid, graduation from preschool and kindergarten wasn't a thing and to be honest, I think it's ridiculous and unneccessary. I don't recall DD having any graduation from preschool/kindergarten either. She had a graduation from middle school, high school and college. She's 24.

I only graduated from high school. Our school colors were blue and gold. The boys wore blue gowns and the ones we girls had were a hideous shade of mustard yellow. That's what I remember most.

The main thing I remember about my high school graduation was that it seemed to drag on forever - there were nearly 900 kids, though we were one of the smallest classes. A big group of us - with our families - went out to dinner afterwards.

Two things have stuck in my mind about university graduation. The first is that we finally found out what one guy's real name was: Hyacinth. The second is that a guy named Dave got red roses for every female he was friendly with - then told everybody he was joining a monastery (he did).

My high school graduation was a bit memorable because our son was in the audience with Rick. When my name was announced and I walked across the stage to get my diploma, a woman in front of Rick said to another woman, "That's the girl who got pregnant and had to get married!" And Rick leaned down, tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Yep, that's the girl. Would you like to see our son? And, she DID graduate!" The woman's face got red and that was all anybody heard from her for the rest of the ceremony. I gave birth to our son in October and graduated the following June.

I didn't attend my college graduation ceremony. It was in December and the weather was bad. We decided not to go. I graduated magna cum laude (just missed summa cum laude, dang it). I was a non-traditional student, starting college at 40 years old; it took me ten years to get through college because I worked full time and went to classes part time.

High School Graduation was fun

College was uneventful

For high school graduation I remember we had to go to another school with a larger auditorium since our class was so large. For college graduation I remember it was so hot that I wore cut-offs and a tank top under my cap and gown. I was very proud of my diploma but more excited to go back home and start a new chapter in my life.

I graduated from high school in 1968. I didn't have any other graduations. It was at the U. of MD. because our school was not big enough. The only things I remember was I wore a white dress and my best friend came. Afterwards we went out and had ice cream.

Didn’t attend high school graduation because I was six months pregnant at the time, so the day was sad for me.

My college graduation was a happy day. I had to take a huge load of courses my last quarter to graduate that May and I needed to graduate because I had a job waiting. So very exhausted and happy at the same time. The funny thing was my class decided to forego cap and gowns but those of us graduating with honors still got the ropes and special things that should have gone on our gowns so I was running saying goodbye to people, dragging around this pile of gold rope and stuff.

Heres a detail I can't believe I forgot: My mother hired a caterer to help with food for my high school graduation party. Nothing super fancy; things like fried chicken and salads that could be dropped off and set up buffet style. I had a lot of family travel for it because no one actually lives near us; and the whole church was invited too. So hiring a caterer like that was just easier than cooking so much for dozens of people.

The caterer was arrested the day before my graduation. We weren't the only family left hanging either. Thankfully my grandparents and especially my church family came through and cooked up a storm and bought things pre-made from a local chicken restaurant. They saved the day!

Winchester said:

My high school graduation was a bit memorable because our son was in the audience with Rick. When my name was announced and I walked across the stage to get my diploma, a woman in front of Rick said to another woman, "That's the girl who got pregnant and had to get married!" And Rick leaned down, tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Yep, that's the girl. Would you like to see our son? And, she DID graduate!" The woman's face got red and that was all anybody heard from her for the rest of the ceremony. I gave birth to our son in October and graduated the following June.

I didn't attend my college graduation ceremony. It was in December and the weather was bad. We decided not to go. I graduated magna cum laude (just missed summa cum laude, dang it). I was a non-traditional student, starting college at 40 years old; it took me ten years to get through college because I worked full time and went to classes part time.

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Good for Rick! We shouldn't be surprised. He's a good man.

My co-worker at one job had a daughter that got pregnant on purpose. She said they weren't upset about it until she told them it was intentional. But she and her husband told her "You WILL finish high school! On time." And she did. She has done very well for herself and now her daughter has 3/4 kids of her own with her own high school sweetheart. It wasn't always easy; but things worked out.

Norachan said:

You have graduations for all of those!?

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Yep. Although the preschool and kinder ones were more like putting on a program for our parents and grandparents than anything. I think we sang some songs and recited some poems and presented letters from the alphabet "B is for bicycle." That sort of thing. I see lots of places that have actual cap and gowns for the little ones. They are adorable; but I sure hope the parents aren't having to provide them!

Kat0121 said:

The boys wore blue gowns and the ones we girls had were a hideous shade of mustard yellow.

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That's how they divided the colors for us too. My gown was yellow; but thankfully not mustard yellow! At least in college everyone wore the same!

I hated High School so just wanted the whole ordeal behind me - I didn't even get any grad pictures taken. I went to prom with friends but it was meh, and it was all about the popular kids anyway. Just got my diploma and done! Thank you, next.



University graduation was much more happier and awesome

I missed kindergarten graduation because I couldn't walk- I had tripped and fallen on a nail- right through my left kneecap. High school graduation was hotter than all get-out, and Peg, who was sitting next to me, got all teary so I loaned her my handkerchief, which she kept. After my time in the service, college graduation was sort of ho-hum, and I don't remember too much about it.

I remember being very nervous when I graduated high school because I was Valedictorian and had to give a long speech.

maggiedemi said:

I remember being very nervous when I graduated high school because I was Valedictorian and had to give a long speech.

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Better you than me- I would have been catatonic.

We don't have graduations for high/secondary school in the UK as much as the US do, so mine were pretty boring in comparison to a lot of yours! Most of British schools don't have middle school and transition straight from primary to secondary (elementary/high) since secondary starts at 11 here (primary starts at 2 or 5, depending on the school, but 2 is very rare and more common in private schools).
For the end of my secondary schooling, we had a "speech day" where we all made speeches to the school and sung the school song, etc, though since my memories of secondary school weren't exactly the best, I didn't have anything to say in my speech worth remembering, so I missed that part of the day. Sixth form (16 - 18, before university/college) graduating was a lot more fun. We had a mock awards ceremony where I won the "craziest cat lady" prize , and we got to guess what our classmates would be 10 years from that day. (Again most of my friends said I'd be living on a farm with a bunch of cats, lol.) We then all went to the local park afterwards for a picnic since it was a hot May day. As we wear uniform here, the best part of our leavers was that we get to practically destroy our uniform by ripping it up and decorating it. A lot of classes do themes, e.g. one of the forms did Disney princesses (since it was an all girls school) and the other did the Pink Ladies from Greece, though we went wild by free-hand, lol.

In 8th grade I remember we were in the closest high school's gym. We had gowns but not caps (and we did have the ribbons that seem to be traditional with 8th grade, at least around here). It was impressed on us that it was a promotion (to high school) not a graduation, and we'd earn our caps when we actually graduated.

Also, I remember them giving out a DAR award and not knowing what it was and upon learning decided it wasn't fair that I wasn't eligible just because my ancestors waited until the early 1900s to come over.

High school we wore white gowns (boys wore purple) and what I remember most about it is when we were going up to the auditorium balcony to wait (graduation was on the football field) I either broke or bent my heel and I had to be very careful walking.

College my gown was too short because I put in the wrong height so it would be longer and oops, made myself an inch shorter instead of taller like I wanted. It was a small school - smaller than high school, and we were all able to graduate at once, rather than breaking into majors like my siblings did.

What I remember more than the graduation itself, which can give away where I went to school for those who want to figure it out, was what we did a night before it. We had a beautiful ceremony where every senior chose an underclassman or someone younger (I used my sister since I didn't have any close younger friends) to be their Rose. And in the evening, seniors would walk with candles and the roses with, well, roses, across the cloister walk and out onto the quad. And there was an exchange of the candle and rose and it was beautiful.

I'm hoping to someday have a Masters graduation at my alma mater with a properly fitting gown.

Winchester said:

I graduated magna cum laude (just missed summa cum laude, dang it).

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Me too! I think if I had chosen a class through my study abroad program instead of insisting on taking one class at the actual French university I would have gotten it.

MoochNNoodles said:

. I see lots of places that have actual cap and gowns for the little ones. They are adorable; but I sure hope the parents aren't having to provide them!

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Ugh, I absolutely hate the trend of cap and gowns for preschool and kindergarten. Thankfully my school doesn't do preschool graduation because I have opinions, but they do go out for kindergarten. I feel like something needs to be accomplished for the cap and gown. I actually kind of like, looking back, not having caps in 8th grade though it annoyed me at the time. It made high school more special. Overusing it makes it lose its meaning.

Two words: Not much. *sorry*

I graduated from high school 15 years ago today. I remember sitting in wobbly chairs on the lawn of the school, then getting hit in the head by my hat when I threw it in the air. Afterward, we were all bussed off to the all-night party, where I turned 18.

My college graduation was about 3.5 years ago. I took the day off work to go (I had just started my job a few weeks before) and I was very, very anxious about it. I almost backed out of going because I was so nervous, but I went for my parents. I sneaked out before the ceremony ended because I had to work in the morning and I realized later that being out late was the reason I was anxious. My parents, sister (and unborn niece ), and I then went to Olive Garden to celebrate.

We had a grade 8 graduation ceremony followed by a short "meet and greet" where parents teachers and students could mingle and take pictures and whatever, followed by a dance for the students. During the ceremony is when we got our diplomas and any awards.
For high school grad it was a traditional ceremony (I think) first were the awards and whatnot, then we all got called up to get our diploma (we all wore caps and gowns), followed by the "meet and greet" for pictures and whatnot.
I did not participate in my college graduation ceremony, it was not mandatory or really necessary in my opinion.
I really didn't care to participate in my grade 8 or high school grad either, but my parents were proud and it didn't really seem like I had a choice. They were proud of my college grad too but because communication is with the student and not the parents they did not know about where or when until it was too late.