Graduation

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06 Jun 2010, 8:09 pm

My high school graduation was a couple hours ago. I'm certainly glad it's over with. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but pulling up to the theatre at which the ceremony would take place with all that traffic caused my anxiety to skyrocket; I calmed down a short while later, though.

We didn't get our actual diplomas at the graduation, just the diploma covers. We go up to the school later this week to pick up our actual diplomas. Anyway, here's a picture of myself in all my graduating glory :wink: .

[img][800:768]http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx256/Mathew_2010/100_1243.jpg[/img]

Sparrowrose
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06 Jun 2010, 8:30 pm

Congratulations!

I've never been through a graduation ceremony. Someone was asking me last semester if I will go through graduation when I finish my doctorate but I don't think I'm going to. No one has been willing to answer enough of my questions to make me feel safe going. Although I did get to find out what food they put out for graduates and I know that if I did go through it, I'd have to eat really well beforehand and bring a bottle of filtered water with me because nothing they put out is something I can eat or drink (and I can't drink the local tap water because it gives me stomach cramps.)

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Apera
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06 Jun 2010, 9:25 pm

I went through HS graduation without blinking.

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Sparrowrose
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06 Jun 2010, 11:09 pm

Apera wrote:

I went through HS graduation without blinking.

Do you really mean you didn't blink your eyes or is that slang for something else?

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conundrum
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07 Jun 2010, 1:27 am

Congratulations, Descartes!

Glad you went. I considered blowing mine off but ended up going for my parents' sake.

When it was over, I was finally able to think "finally, I'm free!"

Now real life finally begins.

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Descartes
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07 Jun 2010, 1:33 am

Sparrowrose wrote:

I wonder what university graduations are like. Could they be anything like high school graduations? :wink:

conundrum wrote:

Thanks. It's a beautiful feeling, isn't it? :wink:

Can't wait until I start college this fall. I'm hoping for a better social life in college than I had in high school. I'll see how that goes.

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07 Jun 2010, 1:56 am

Descartes wrote:

I wonder what university graduations are like. Could they be anything like high school graduations? :wink:

I've never been to a high school one, but the university ones are pretty straightforward (well, my one was anyway). There were some speeches, then we all lined up to go and shake hands with the bursar on the stage, and then collect our certificates. Then we went and took pictures with friends. That was about it really.

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Sparrowrose
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07 Jun 2010, 2:00 am

Descartes wrote:

Sparrowrose wrote:

I wonder what university graduations are like. Could they be anything like high school graduations? :wink:

Probably. But I've never been through a high school graduation, either, so I wouldn't know.

I understand the basics: put on a robe, go up on stage and get something, sit back down. When I ask people what to expect, they just repeat this stuff over and over. I want to know things like, how much earlier will I have to get there? Will there be a rehearsal so I know where to sit, when to walk, etc.? Will we have to wait in a room before sitting down? Or will we be sitting there for a long time before things start? What happens afterward? Do we just keep sitting there? Do we just leave? Do we go someplace else?

So many details and no one will explain them to me (and the only people who can explain them to me are people here at my particular school.) And since the amount of details that no one is telling me (I didn't even know there would be food at a graduation until I saw photos on facebook!) are so many, it all bogs down in my brain and I get very resistant to going.

Plus, there would be no one in the audience applauding for me so all that noise would just be a big sensory overload of awful crowd sounds with no person out there for me to think about enduring my sensory issues to please. Why do I want to go under some very bright lights in a room filled with terrible, painful sounds, just so some strangers can watch me walk around in a robe? It sounds like a real ordeal to me but I would be willing to brave my way through it if it were important to someone else to see me do it.

Quote:

Can't wait until I start college this fall. I'm hoping for a better social life in college than I had in high school. I'll see how that goes.

I hope or that for you, too!

I've had a better time in college. While there are still some bullies at the university level, mostly people leave me alone and ignore me. It's awesome after my experiences in high school where I was beaten, had rocks thrown at me, called names, tripped, had bleach thrown on my clothes, and so on. University is WORLDS better than high school.

Congratulations again on graduating!

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Alycat
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07 Jun 2010, 2:23 am

Sparrowrose wrote:

I want to know things like, how much earlier will I have to get there? Will there be a rehearsal so I know where to sit, when to walk, etc.? Will we have to wait in a room before sitting down? Or will we be sitting there for a long time before things start? What happens afterward? Do we just keep sitting there? Do we just leave? Do we go someplace else?

We were told to get there an hour before so we had time to go pick up our robes, find our seat etc. We just went and found our seats when we wanted, and had to sit around there for ages. It was kind of obvious when to leave with ours, as it starts with all the uni tutors walking in really slowly to music, and ends with them all walking out (a bit like with a wedding). We didn't have any rehearsal, but we had our names written on cards stuck to the seats, and there were ushers to tell us what to do.

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Sparrowrose
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07 Jun 2010, 2:47 am

Alycat wrote:

Sparrowrose wrote:

How were you able to handle sitting for so long in a seat with all that stuff and people around you and nothing to distract you from the noise and light?

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Alycat
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07 Jun 2010, 3:01 am

Sparrowrose wrote:

Alycat wrote:

Sparrowrose wrote:

How were you able to handle sitting for so long in a seat with all that stuff and people around you and nothing to distract you from the noise and light?

I had psyched myself up for it for several days. Ours wasn't too packed, and it didn't last too long, so my parents and I were able to head out for dinner soon after.

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gemstone123
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07 Jun 2010, 1:39 pm

Congrats on graduating!

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Descartes
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08 Jun 2010, 2:12 pm

Thanks, gemstone!

I went up to the school today and finally received my diploma. I still have to wait for them to mail me my final transcript, which will be later this month.

Either way, I'm just happy that I'm officially graduated and I will never have to set foot inside that school again, unless I want to go visit some of my old teachers. :wink:

GoonSquad
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08 Jun 2010, 2:12 pm

Congrats (even if you do have horrible taste in philosophers)! !! !!

Nice dogs too, by the way.

@ sparrowrose,

I completely understand your lack of desire to participate in the graduation rituals. I'm on track to graduate with top honors at the little J. C. I'm attending before I transfer to the U. of A. but participation in graduation ceremony is a requirement for receiving the degree, therefore I'll probably end up giving up the degree and just transfer.

I'd like to get the degree and honors since I did work hard for them, but I'm not going to 'walk' for them just to please school administration! :roll:

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