# How was your High school Graduation ceremony?



## hnstlylonelyaf (Feb 11, 2014)

Mine's coming up in about a week (June 7) and I have no idea what to expect. For some reason I was one of the few people selected to give a 1-2 minute speech talking about my experiences at the school. When my name's being called up I can 10000% guarantee that most if not all of the 2000 people in the audience will stare at me like "Who the **** is this guy?" and I'm a little bit nervous for that. What is being done at the ceremony? Does the principal just call up all the students' names and give them their diploma or what? How was yours like?


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## Tymes Rhymes (May 28, 2014)

I graduated in 2010. It was a cool experience because it signified that one of the biggest popularity contests in my life was finally over.

The actual ceremony was the same disingenuous pandering to the popular kids as the actual schooling was.

Kids whom hated school, barely showed up, and barely graduated were cheered the most by the crowd assuming it was their large family who saw their child as perfect or some obtuse reasoning like that.

The kids whom actually did work like myself, were met with crickets when our names were called.

Every school does their ceremony differently.

The principal called our names, we walked up and shook the hands of three people and posed for pictures but it wasn't really all to spectacular of an event.


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## Imbored21 (Jun 18, 2012)

Horrible. Everyone was silent when my name was called. I was the first one off the field.


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## Sarah94 (May 27, 2014)

Haha mine was terrible. I graduated in 2012. Thankfully I had a really small class size, 38 people, but I was valedictorian so I had to stand up there the whole time on the verge of total panic. Needless to say I did not give a speech  But it was nice that my whole extended family came from around the country to support me. All in all I'm just glad high school is behind me!


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## hnstlylonelyaf (Feb 11, 2014)

Sarah94 said:


> Haha mine was terrible. I graduated in 2012. Thankfully I had a really small class size, 38 people.


Were you in like a private school or something? Coz in my graduating class the total number of boys and girls combined is close to a thousand. (Sorry I go to a big school).


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## Steinerz (Jul 15, 2013)

Sucked.


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## masterridley (Jan 20, 2007)

It was held in a theatre of sorts and we had to walk down the stairs among the hundreds of students. Of course, I didn't get the applause of other students, but some (their parents?) did applaud me.

At least no one shouted anything funny like nasty nicknames <- that was actually my fear.


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## sad vlad (Nov 9, 2013)

I have not attended it. It was the same for college graduation.


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## SuperSaiyanGod (Jan 21, 2014)

God, that was back in 2004 so I barely remember it. Just as well, it probably wasn't memorable anyway.


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## nikon219 (May 29, 2014)

It was back in 2004 for me too. I never went, which I regret because I had some friends and my GCSE results were the best in the school.


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## Sarah94 (May 27, 2014)

hnstlylonelyaf said:


> Were you in like a private school or something? Coz in my graduating class the total number of boys and girls combined is close to a thousand. (Sorry I go to a big school).


Actually I went to a public school, in a big city to boot, but it was grades 6-12 and smaller than the others in the area. We also had the problem of over half of the class of 2012 either dropping out or switching schools (something that didn't happen with any of the other classes for some reason?) We started with 92 when I was a freshman and ended up with 38. All of the other graduating classes were between 100 and 200 besides ours


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## Barakiel (Oct 31, 2013)

It was just yesterday. Wasn't too bad, but not very memorable either.


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## fullmetaljacket (Mar 9, 2011)

One of the best days of my life. Everything went perfect, it was seriously amazing. I will never forget it.


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## satyrinath (Jun 19, 2013)

I didn't even attend. No regrets


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## pockybear (May 29, 2014)

You're giving a speech? That's awesome! I would never be able to do that


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## T Studdly (Jul 20, 2013)

Bitter sweet.

It was official that I was out of that hell hole high school for good, also money and a trip to my favorite resturant afterwards.
But my dad couldn't attend because he was too sick from cancer to come...he was upset he couldn't watch me walk across the stage and that broke my heart. Never seen him cry like that. 

Atleast my aunt video taped it for him.


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## FunkyFedoras (Aug 30, 2013)

Well I didn't have to give a speech or anything...

Mine was good. I was initially nervous because I had to get all dressed up. I wore a dress and my hair was down (all of which I had never done to go to school) so I was scared how people might perceive me. But no one seemed to mind, plus our graduation gowns were basically to the floor. We had our ceremony outside on the field and it was blistering hot. The guys were sweating so much that their graduation gowns had huge sweat circles on the back.

It took about 45 minutes to get all of the graduates out of the building and onto the field and by then, everyone just wanted it to be over because our school building was also overwhelming hot. I knew a good amount of people in high school so when we all sat down, I was chatting with people around me that I knew and obviously everyone was excited. Then we had speeches by the Valedictorian and Salutatorian. And our principal said some words, in which he included the names of a bunch of students he grew close to over their time at our high school (and I wasn't one of those people).

Then they started calling names and for every person they called, everyone was clapping. I think it's because my graduating class was somewhere from 350-400 students and there was a ton of family that showed up so everyone was just clapping for all the students. And when they called my name, I was so excited but then when I got to the steps, I realized the steps were a freaking death trap waiting to happen since it wasn't real steps to get onto the raised platform/stage, but rather those portable steps that didn't have handle bars and were also slightly angled. And I was thinking "Are you ****ting me right now? The last thing I need is to fall down the steps at graduation." But luckily, I didn't fall! Got my diploma case (they didn't give you diplomas on stage), shook some guy's hand and turned to walk off with a HUGE grin on my face (and thinking back on it, I was grinning way too much). And as I walked down the steps, the president of my class (who I did know), was smiling at me and I think she said something but I don't remember. And next to her was my crush-who was the VP (god, I was so in love with that kid). So I walked back to my seat and waited for everyone to finish being called. Then we got to throw our hats up! Was cool. Then everyone dispersed to go and find their family and people were sobbing and hugging and taking pictures. And so I went to go find my family and we took pictures and they had balloons for me and then I took some pictures with friends. Overall, it was sad yet very happy.

Good luck with your speech too! [:



T Studdly said:


> Bitter sweet.
> 
> It was official that I was out of that hell hole high school for good, also money and a trip to my favorite resturant afterwards.
> But my dad couldn't attend because he was too sick from cancer to come...he was upset he couldn't watch me walk across the stage and that broke my heart. Never seen him cry like that.
> ...


That's heartbreaking to hear.


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## T Studdly (Jul 20, 2013)

FunkyFedoras said:


> Well I didn't have to give a speech or anything...
> 
> Mine was good. I was initially nervous because I had to get all dressed up. I wore a dress and my hair was down (all of which I had never done to go to school) so I was scared how people might perceive me. But no one seemed to mind, plus our graduation gowns were basically to the floor. We had our ceremony outside on the field and it was blistering hot. The guys were sweating so much that their graduation gowns had huge sweat circles on the back.
> 
> ...


Yeah, luckily he beat the cancer the year after and he's good now, i'm just happy he's alive and healthy again.


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## nothing to fear (Mar 23, 2005)

I graduated from an alternative school in 2009 and it was really small but still awkward and makes me cringe when I think about it. After the ceremony my mom asked me if I wanted to say bye to my (non-existent) friends and I said "I'm fine, we can go now" and she was really weird and awkward after.

I'm dreading my college grad... I was supposed to graduate last year but thankfully I was away on a trip. I really really *really* _really_ don't want to go so I'll either convince my family to have a dinner for me instead or someone make other plans.


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## nullptr (Sep 21, 2012)

meh. my robe was hot, that's about it. wasn't particularly awful yet not good,


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## Bearyfluffy (Sep 25, 2013)

It's coming up next Tuesday (June 10th) and I don't feel ready at all


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## DarrellLicht (Mar 9, 2013)

hnstlylonelyaf said:


> When my name's being called up I can 10000% guarantee that most if not all of the 2000 people in the audience will stare at me like "Who the **** is this guy?"


 That's pretty much what happened to me. The auditorium went dead silent. Literally anyone else got some applause.

I wasn't all that surprised, but it hurt just the same.


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## NoClue32 (Sep 25, 2013)

Didn't have many people to come and see me graduate because my cousin's graduation was on the same day as mine. Nice to know you're loved lol...


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## VividImagination (Aug 20, 2013)

I'll let you know in a few weeks. Not looking forward to it.


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## WhispersWithWolf (Apr 23, 2014)

Class of 2011, I wore a bright pink dress and won a $500 scholarship (I was the only one poor enough to write the essay apparently ). Joked nervously for the 1 minute speech thing. Afterward, I said goodbye to a few people I liked and went to Applebees with my mom, sister and grandmother. To me, it was just another passing day.


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## Kristine Marie (Jul 10, 2012)

I had to give a speech at mine, too. I just graduation this May, but thankfully I went to a really small school. My graduating class was barely over 50 people, so people at least knew who I was. But that didn't make it any less terrifying. For me, the worst part was the anticipation. During the actual ceremony, I was fine. All they did after speeches was call each person's name, people clap, you walk across the stage, and then sit back down. Not a big deal. Then after the ceremony, we all lined up outside to shake hands with people and such. I don't think a lot of other schools do this, though. 

The important thing to remember is that you probably won't have to see any of these people ever again. So who cares if they don't know you now? Just write a good speech and practice a lot.


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## Louis Wang (Jun 15, 2018)

*It was a great experience*

I remembered on that day, every one of my fellows looks stunning with their black academic graduation cap and gown. We even tried several times to throw up our graduation mortarboards into the air to capture the best moments we spent together.


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## DeliveryDude (Apr 21, 2019)

I graduated high school in 1999 and didn't go to the ceremony. Actually, my Junior and Senior year were pretty good for me. Had two real good friends and met a lot of people through them. That being said, I still felt awkward around 90 percent of the people and felt no need to go to the graduation. Still don't regret it.


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## Barakiel (Oct 31, 2013)

Barakiel said:


> It was just yesterday. Wasn't too bad, but not very memorable either.


I do remember having "You Still Believe In Me" by The Beach Boys in my head, and considering it's almost been 5 years since I graduated, the first line of that song is still very much relevant for me :/


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