The Graduation Gift That Keeps on Giving|NotForgotten
How do you give the perfect gift to someone who has worked so hard? As graduation approaches, so does the struggle of finding the perfect gift. Read this blog to find out what that is.
Well, May is finally approaching. It’s the month seniors have either been eagerly anticipating or slowly dreading. For some, it means the transition from high school to college for others…it is the transition from college to real life.
Graduation looks a little different this year from last. So much has changed since last May. In the wake of graduation in May 2020, students were stuck in their rooms as they watched their commencement happen over zoom during a pandemic. While we are still in that pandemic, we are close to a whole year of slowly adapting back to normal. A step towards the podium is a step towards improvement as society.
I remember graduating high school. All the nerves, excitement, fear, and accomplishment flowing through me. It was the final step towards me moving to a whole new city and declaring my own independence. It was also a time of many goodbyes. Goodbye to my friends who I had gone to school with my whole life, goodbye to my dog who comforts me when I am sad, and goodbye to my family who had taken care of me my whole life. It is a big step that is taken by so many, making it an occasion that deserves to be rewarded.
When graduating, schools reward you with a diploma and loved ones gift you with something meant to make you remember that moment. If you think about it, there is a lot of pressure in being the gift giver for a graduating student. A graduation gift is not like a regular gift. Graduation is a different type of gift. It can be the gift that symbolizes a persons success and can be interpreted as the measure of how much you admire that change.
Grad gifts generally fall into one of three categories
The cheesy but useful gift
I think we have all been in a position in which we have either received a cheesy gift or been the giver of one. I know I am guilty of giving them for my own convenience. Cheesy gifts are easy, and that is the perfect solution for someone like me who is lazy when it comes to gift giving. But often a cliche gift can also have high utility. Some of the cheesiest gifts I received for high school graduation are the ones I still use to this day as a junior in college (whoever got me that tool box, I am forever grateful). Another simple gift you can get a graduate is an Uber or Starbucks gift card. As a student, I can assure you dear reader that we all blow a huge percent of our budget on transportation and coffee. Champaign is also a great indicator of celebration (only if they are of age of course), and despite the cliche is highly appreciated and has high utility.
The expensive gift — cash, shiny things
Another way to show you care is through money. Nothing says “I’m happy for you” like a big check in the mail. It is hard to go wrong with generous gifts of cash. If you are looking for something more personal, but expensive, people also like shiny things! Graduation is often that excuse to get that special someone the “big” prize they have been wanting because in a sense they actually earned it. Occasions like this challenge gift givers to question how they want to be represented. By giving an expensive gift, one can expect immediate gratitude. What those gift givers should be aware of is whether it will last or not. Expensive things tend to go out of style. Trends have a trend of fading over time. Whether it be a name brand bag they have wanted or that necklace they begged for, 30 years from now they may never wear it again. So if you are going to splash out, do it on something timeless.
The personal and meaningful gift
When approaching a sustainable gift giving style, personal and meaningful is the way to go. When it comes to getting something meaningful for another person you must dig deep to a personal level. Nothing has meaning without a bit of raw emotion. The most meaningful gift I ever received was a quilt from my mom and dad. Conveniently, it was given to me the day of my high school graduation. This quilt had T-shirts I had worn through out my childhood sewn into a blanket. Every square brought back a happy memory with a hint of nostalgia. The purpose of this blanket was to be comforted by it when I got homesick, and the purpose of that blanket remains to this day, three years later. Graduation is a sentimental time. Ultimately, after graduating, students want something to make them remember the years that got them to where they are now. Gifts like quilts and scrapbooks hold so much meaning, but lack longevity.
There is another category. One that encompasses all the gift giving personalities in one. A timeless, personal gift that’s high in utility. One that’s more than a gift, its an experience. Its a way to ensure the person you are getting a gift for will remember both you and the experience that brought them there. Time capsules make memories and stories last forever, making them the most ideal solution to for a graduation gift.
Think of the graduates you know. They will never be this motivated, sparkling, opinionated version of themselves ever again. Time capsules will capture a time when hopes and dreams are still new and have not been tarnished by the struggles life often comes with. Graduates will be able to store all of their memorabilia and look back at themselves 10 years into the future and see just where those hopes and dreams had taken them.
Ciaran Young explains it best when describing why he created a time capsule with NotForgotten,
“I want to leave a time stamp on where I am in my life right now. In years to come we can reflect on how things have changed.”
Being a rising senior, I have found that time has gone too fast. The famous saying “it will be the best four years of your life” echo through my head as I reflect on the past three years. I spent so much time trying to live in the moment that I fear I did not savor those times. This is why time capsules can be the perfect gift to simply get yourself. Sometimes you have to take the past into your own hands and decide how you want to remember it.
I think about all the cheesy, expensive, and thoughtful gifts I have received in the past, and while I appreciated them in the moment, their relevance tends to fade. The scented candles, the purses, the jewelry, even my beloved quilt all have an expiration date. With a time capsule, your life becomes the gift and is never going to lose its relevance…even if that is 100 years from now.
I know what you are thinking, and no you do not need to buy your graduate a giant metal capsule and destroy their backyard burying it. Technology has made it so that time capsules can keep all types of media in one place, accessible through an online library, recorded on the blockchain, and protected in digital vaults for literally lifetimes. Guarded from data rot. Brands like NotForgotten give people the chance to make their memories and memorabilia last , something I think most graduates would find attractive. Our generation is all about ourselves, digitally capturing .
Time capsules are the gifts that keep giving. Every glance at the past allows us to learn, and when we are too old to learn from our own mistakes our children can learn…then their children…then their children’s children…you get the point. Share the ultimate gift of remembering to be remembered.
