28 May 2005
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My graduation memories - 6:35 p.m.
I'm finally a high school graduate. It didn't hit me until I was brushing my teeth this morning. I looked in the mirror while I was brushing my teeth and said, "Holy crap, I'm a freshman again!" The funny part behind this is that I don't like to label people with grades during the summer. Maybe it was just the real impact.
So instead of going into every single detail of graduation, I'll leave you with a few snapshots of the experience... pictures, both real and mental, that will stay with me for a long time...
In no real order (chronological or significant), here goes.
...arriving at Memorial Auditorium and decorating myself (FBLA cord, French Honor Society cord, Beta Club stole, National Honor Society stole, salutatorian medal) while trying not to let my too-big white gown touch the cars surrounding me...
...talking to my kindergarten best friends (Ashley E. and Michelle B.) and my fifth grade best friend (Jakki A.), people I talked to since then but hadn't really been best friends with since, laughing at old jokes, and realizing that we were going in four separate directions after that night...
...thinking that one really should be careful what one wishes for. I told Polly about this while we were waiting to go in. After all, if she hadn't moved to Ringgold and everything else had progressed normally, then I would be val. However, I wanted a challenge; in eighth grade, I saw that it would be too easy. Guess what happened the next year?...
...seeing Mrs. Jackson as the teachers were lining up. Other than losing us, this has to be good for her--two Nerdlings and two DBIDs are on top. No, wait, that's a bit ironic...
...growing bored and starting to count the ceiling tiles in binary (I didn't count all of them because of the lights, but I can assure you that there are at least 1010 tiles on there)...
...trying not to fall up the stairs to the stage (but at least I wasn't wearing my suicide shoes!)...
...standing up the entire time while the rest of the class entered the auditorium and remaining standing through the pledge, national anthem, and invocation...
...Polly's speech, one of two thought-provoking speeches that night. I realised that while I actually talked to many people in my class, I never had one real group with which I could identify myself. We all need friends, though, which is one thing that Gina neglected...
...My speech, which I actually finished writing that afternoon (I'm serious!). After I looked at the class of 2005, I remembered that I was technically addressing them, so I kept my eyes on them most of the time and looked at other people out of common courtesy. It kept my mind off the "oh-no-there-are-a-zillion-people-in-here" panic...
...Maria's speech, which was the other thought-provoking speech that night. What was high school about, anyway? Was it really an introduction to the "rat race"? Or was it a way for us to discover ourselves in a world full of other people who are trying to do the same thing?...
...walking across the stage and shaking all those hands...
...trying not to laugh as the pile of dollar bills and squirt guns grew larger (someone eventually retrieved a box for them)...
...turning the tassel and the ring...
...singing the alma mater for one last time and actually singing along instead of my usual lip-synching...
...the moment I had been waiting for--throwing the hat in the air. Mine flew in a nice parabola and landed to my right...
...immediately leaving the stage to receive my real diploma, only to realize that there was a separate line for "Top 25 and Gator" (that's really what the sign said!)...
...Tabitha and me running up to Mme Ruth and nearly tackling her...
...the picture of Polly, Tabby, and me taken by Polly's parents and Tabby's mum (mine weren't around, but I want one!)...
...finally escaping the auditorium and going to Cracker Barrel to eat ("You need to graduate more often," Jeffrey's friend Justin said)...
...undecorating myself and putting all the decorations in the box that my white shoes came in...
That, friend, was my graduation experience. This is a part of what I'll hold on to, what I'll cherish. I always saw graduation as a rite of passage. One minute you're something; the next minute you're not. I suppose that's true, but it didn't kick in for awhile.
I didn't take any pictures or get autographs or anything like that. It's not that I don't want to remember people. I have my own way of remembering. I write everything down. One day I can look back on what I wrote and see everything happening so much more realistically than if I had a picture or an autograph. This is because I was there...in my own way.
To Do:
1. Enjoy summer
2. French summer seminar!
3. Find job
4. Read and write as much as possible