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The W - One Question... - Is High School Graduation a Big Deal?
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DrDirt
Banger








Since: 8.10.03
From: flyover country

Since last post: 2336 days
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#1 Posted on | Instant Rating: 8.37
Just curious and thought we needed a new thread. Most of you are a lot younger than I am. When I graduated in 1974, it was a big deal. Now where I grew up it's kind of; "That's nice. Now go and get a job or head off to more school." Out here in rural Kansas, it is a huge, huge deal. Reality for me is that graduating just gives you the opportunity to move forward. It's very necesary and should be recognized as an achievement but within limits.

Not a dynamic topic but I'm interested in what you all think and what goes on around the country and world.



Perception is reality
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Leroy
Boudin blanc








Since: 7.2.02

Since last post: 3 days
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#2 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.68
Where I grew up, they had to tone down the junior high ceremonies because parents were renting limousines for their kids. This was more the case for my younger sister's peers than mine, but still...

I think it's big deal, but more as a "rite of passage" than an actual accomplishment. College or not, it's an entry into the adult world that should be respected.



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-Jennifer's greatest quote... ever.
geemoney
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Since: 26.1.03
From: Naples, FL

Since last post: 3 days
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#3 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.67
For me, it was only four years ago, and yeah, it was a big deal. Mostly because it was the last time you'd see people you spent your whole life growing up with, rather than because you move on to the next stage of life (college, work, whatever).



College, sports and more!: Experience It



kwik
Summer sausage








Since: 5.9.02
From: Norwich, NY

Since last post: 2946 days
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#4 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.69
Mine in 1999 was a big deal mainly because our class decided to buck years and years of tradition and have a Friday evening ceremony as opposed to Saturday afternoon. Apparently not wanting to sit out in mid-June heat wearing dark purple gowns caused quite the local controversy.



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spf
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Since: 2.1.02
From: The Las Vegas of Canada

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#5 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.16
I think it was a big deal because it was the splintering of the group of people you might have known most of your life. Most people knew a large chunk of their classmates for at least 6-8 years, which is nearly half your life at that point. And suddenly now everyone is going off their own way. While college is in many ways a bigger life change, high school feels biggest, at least it did to me.



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Packman V2
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Since: 16.3.04
From: Albuquerque, NM

Since last post: 762 days
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#6 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.10
Mine was a big deal, but I'm not exactly a people person and almost missed it. It wasn't for my mom threatening to kick my ass that I went ahead and attended the ceremony. I was just glad it was over quickly.




Co-Winner of the 2006 Time Magazine Person of the Year Award
DJ FrostyFreeze
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Since: 2.1.02
From: Hawthorne, CA

Since last post: 128 days
Last activity: 128 days
#7 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.86

Mine was in 1995 and it was a pretty big deal to me. After it was all over, I remember walking around wanting to tell strangers that I just graduated from high school. I also remember really feeling like I was now a real adult.

It's funny how those "NOW I'm a real adult" events keep happening. Do they ever stop?



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Kevintripod
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Since: 11.5.03
From: Mount Pleasant, Pa.

Since last post: 14 days
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#8 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.95
I was actually far more excited over finally being able to take part in the whole cap and gown ceremony thing outside on the football field rather than for the fact that I was graduating high school.

But I know I will be very teary eyed when my daughter graduates in 2012.



"F*cking Chuck Norris."
DrDirt
Banger








Since: 8.10.03
From: flyover country

Since last post: 2336 days
Last activity: 2238 days
#9 Posted on | Instant Rating: 8.75
    Originally posted by DJ FrostyFreeze
    It's funny how those "NOW I'm a real adult" events keep happening. Do they ever stop?


No. I going on 51 now and still waiting to become "a real adult."

Several mentioned that it was important because the old gang was splitting up for good. I was in a class of about 360 and knew maybe 5 or 20 well. My 16 yo daughter is in a class of 36 (big for out here) and they have been together for all their schooling. About 7 of them have been together since pre-school. They are more like a family group than class.



Perception is reality
Mr Heel II
Lap cheong








Since: 25.2.02

Since last post: 1882 days
Last activity: 1618 days
#10 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.14
Graduating...Absolutely. I will say that it's easier to get ahead with less education in rural areas of the Midwest than on either coast (the more liberal the area, the snottier the attitude toward those who didn't go on to get a degree, let alone a diploma).

I have a friend who dropped out and ultimately got her GED who has done fine, but in a day and age where the "experts" are all calling for eleventeen years of college, who knows what the young will face.

The ceremony itself...I didn't really care if I was there or not, and I skipped the rehearsals in favor of work. The vice principal called me up and was seething. So I went to the ceremony.

The one stupid thing I remember was they decided to ban us from the tradition of throwing our caps in the air because "somebody could get hurt" and "you could cause a fire in the lighting rig".

Nothing of the sort ever happened in previous years (this was 1984). It was like the final insult to twelve years of hell.

I've never looked back.
Cerebus
Scrapple








Since: 17.11.02

Since last post: 2451 days
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#11 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.48
If you mean the actual ceremony with the cap and gown and all that, I suppose it's a big deal to cap and gown manufacturers.

Me personally, I was working scheduled to be at work the day we 'graduated' and was forced by my mother to go instead. I didn't really care. School bored me and the only reason I went was because we had to.

College bored me as well though and I paid for that out of pocket. I guess I'm one of those people who view a diploma as just a really expensive piece of paper.

Now, if you mean the whole 'right of passage' thing of having gotten through high school on your way to adulthood... well, no, it's kinda pointless today seeing as children 'grow up' faster then they did in the past and they learn stuff from watching tv or the internet and whatnot. Personally, I think our whole educational system needs an overhaul.
samoflange
Lap cheong








Since: 22.2.04
From: Cambridge, MA

Since last post: 3806 days
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#12 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.30
Graduation itself wasn't a big "rite of passage" for me, but it was a big deal in that it was fun as hell and I had a kickass party afterwards with an Slush Puppy machine serving margaritas. I was valedictorian and my best friend was salutatorian and we did our speeches together in a conversational style. It was full of Mallrats, Dumb and Dumber, and Big Lebowski references, inside jokes that most students got but parents/faculty didn't, and 4 or 5 planned audience participation segments. It was a blast and it made all the rest of the graduation bullshit worthwhile. Another thing that made the day great was a friend of mine doing the Barry Horowitz pat on the back after getting his diploma.

The reason the act of graduating itself wasn't a big deal to me is that I had already been away to my first year of college at that point. I was in a program where I was accepted as a freshman without a diploma, and I used college courses to complete my high school requirements. When I returned home after finals, it was mid-May and graduation was in late June. So it was just an excuse to party all day and kick off the summer before I had to head back to sophomore year of college.



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-Rick Scaia 06.12.2006
Whitebacon
Banger








Since: 12.1.02
From: Fresno, CA

Since last post: 110 days
Last activity: 10 days
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#13 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.33
    Originally posted by samoflange
    Another thing that made the day great was a friend of mine doing the Barry Horowitz pat on the back after getting his diploma.



I wish I had thought to do that. Or, given that I graduated in 2000, done DDP's self-high-five.
shinstrife
Boudin rouge








Since: 5.10.02

Since last post: 2938 days
Last activity: 390 days
#14 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.89
I'm graduating on May 20th. The closer I get to the date I'm handed my diploma, the more grandiose it's feeling. I'm from a small town, class of 180. There is a group of six of seven guys who have known each other for varying years. Half of us are staying in town for college, the other three are leaving and even still, it kind of feels like the end is near and it's scary.

I am excited to move on from high school and explore independence.



JayJayDean
Scrapple








Since: 2.1.02
From: Seattle, WA

Since last post: 2975 days
Last activity: 2553 days
#15 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.40
I didn't think my graduation was that big of a deal, but that is most likely because I went to three different high schools. My overriding feeling was probably "NO MORE NEW SCHOOLS - YAY!"



Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....

*snip*

Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass.
-- The Guinness. to Cerebus
cfgb
Bierwurst








Since: 2.1.02
From: Ottawa, Ontario

Since last post: 562 days
Last activity: 22 days
#16 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.46
I didn't particularly care either way. I had no use for high school. I was at the grad itself as a formality for my parents. They did ours in OCTOBER of the year AFTER we graduated, which meant I'd already been moved on for 4-5 months.

However, that night also marked the first time I ever got drunk. The discovery of alcohol must have been the same feeling the cavemen got when they discovered the wheel. As far as school went, it was one of the few areas I was lightyears behind my classmates ...
Zeruel
Thirty Millionth Hit
Moderator








Since: 2.1.02
From: The Silver Spring in the Land of Mary.

Since last post: 1666 days
Last activity: 1666 days
#17 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.05
It didn't feel like a big deal to me. I was in a class of 550 or so and it took about 4-5 hours to get through the thing. I was more bored than anything else.



-- 2006 Time magazine Person of the Year --

Reverend J Shaft
Toulouse








Since: 25.6.03
From: Home of The Big House

Since last post: 1429 days
Last activity: 12 days
#18 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.91
Oooh, I'm glad this came up since I have a dilemma to pose to the Ws out there:

Say someone has a sister who is graduating college on Mother's Day. At the same time, that person's wife is celebrating the day for the first time as a new mother. You can only be with one of those people on that day. What do you do?

(Cue Final Jeopardy music)
CRZ
Big Brother
Administrator








Since: 9.12.01
From: ミネアポリス

Since last post: 17 days
Last activity: 8 days
ICQ:  
#19 Posted on | Instant Rating: 9.00
    Originally posted by Reverend J Shaft
    Oooh, I'm glad this came up since I have a dilemma to pose to the Ws out there:

    Say someone has a sister who is graduating college on Mother's Day. At the same time, that person's wife is celebrating the day for the first time as a new mother. You can only be with one of those people on that day. What do you do?

    (Cue Final Jeopardy music)
You really don't see this as a no-brainer?

Hint: Which person does he plan on spending the rest of his life with from 5/14 on?



I AM CRZ
JayJayDean
Scrapple








Since: 2.1.02
From: Seattle, WA

Since last post: 2975 days
Last activity: 2553 days
#20 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.40
    Originally posted by CRZ
      Originally posted by Reverend J Shaft
      Oooh, I'm glad this came up since I have a dilemma to pose to the Ws out there:

      Say someone has a sister who is graduating college on Mother's Day. At the same time, that person's wife is celebrating the day for the first time as a new mother. You can only be with one of those people on that day. What do you do?

      (Cue Final Jeopardy music)
    You really don't see this as a no-brainer?

    Hint: Which person does he plan on spending the rest of his life with from 5/14 on?


What he said.



Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....

*snip*

Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass.
-- The Guinness. to Cerebus
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