Why Everyone Should Skip Their Graduation Ceremony
My parents kept their graduation photos hidden somewhere in the basement
Last year, I graduated but didn’t attend my ceremony. I watched a movie instead.
I really didn’t want to join my ceremony. I know that I should never take it for granted, but I don’t see the benefit I get from it.
People were shocked when I told them that I won’t be coming to my graduation. They tried to convince me but I still didn’t want to.
“It’s a once in a lifetime experience, Nicole! You should join!”
Once in a lifetime to what? Getting your pictures wearing a graduation gown?
Here’s to why I don’t think anyone should attend their graduation ceremonies.
1) It’s a waste of time and money.
The last graduation ceremony I attended was my high school one. I remember getting bored in the middle, especially the time comes when they call your name one by one.
In university, there are THOUSANDS of students they are going to call out. That’s when I pulled the plug, especially when I saw how much it cost just to wait for my name to be called.
And just to let you know, to them, you are just their list. They don’t care who you are until you made it big in whatever industry you are going to be working in.
Plus, you have to pay for it. I don’t know how much, but for mine, it wasn’t cheap. I had to pay for the gown and picture taking wasn’t even included yet, not to mention all the makeup you have to apply just for a short-term experience. No thank you.
I saved a lot of my time watching the movies for two hours, not being bored out of my mind, and saved a lot of money. My friends were there, I was lazy to come because I wanted to do something to relax my mind rather than sit through the whole time waiting for my name to be called.
2) It’s for social media
Unless you really value the experience, then go ahead. My closest friends did.
This one bothered me the most because the people I know did it for the sake of social media. When I was with them, most were complaining about the overload of assignments, how they were just there for the paper, and even skipped classes a lot.
And when they were in their ceremony, they were the total opposite of what they did during the time they were in college. They put on a smile for the camera and post in the description of how grateful they were graduating and that they’d cherish the time when they were in college.
To which I know deep down, they were not. They were all doing it for the ‘likes’ and attention.
Imagine this: a person is going on hiking, and he complains about how tired he was, the mountain was too tall, and all the unnecessary excuses he came up with. Then when he finally reached the top, he was so happy to pull out his phone and take pictures. Is that really valuing the experience that you climbed the mountain, or are you just desperate for attention to boost your ego?
If that’s what you are aiming for, then you are just dooming yourself. Turn back if you’re just doing it for attention.
3) Your family wants you to be successful IN LIFE
Sure, we have families who would want to see us finally finishing the stressful days of college and finally getting the degree we worked on so hard for years. But ultimately, if we don’t do something about the degree, then what’s the point?
I am not saying that we should all drop out of college and be like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg who dropped out and be billionaires.
College is still important. They help us pick up knowledge, and wisdom, and help us gain connections to open opportunities. You just need to know what you want to do with that degree you worked so hard on.
I am thankful that my family was there for me during my stressful days in college. However, ultimately, they only want to see how I’ll hold up in the future. So my goal was to show them that I am serious about further developing my career and that I am on my way to being able to hold on to my own.
When I got a part-time job during my 2nd year of college, I found that life at work is so much different from studying. I realized that school and life are two very different worlds, and there are a lot more responsibilities to face when you’re out there.
4) You can still contact your friends anyway
I get these all the time as well, “it’s your last time to see your friends”. Well sure, the saying of treating everyone as if it’s their last day still stuck with me, which was why I came up to my graduation AT THE END. I never registered for it anyway.
I just said “Hey, congratz”, took a few pictures, and left. A few weeks later, we hung out again anyway. I also reunited with my other friends, and we didn’t speak about our graduation but the time when we were in classes and what we did.
And let’s be real, there are people whom we don’t want to see as well. So why waste your time doing that just for pictures.
So those are my reasons:
- Time & Money consuming
- Social Media Attention
- Your families want you to be successful IN LIFE
- Friends will still be there anyway
I am already thankful that I can receive my degree in my hands. Thank God for that, after finishing all the hard course works.
Now I am not showing off why I skipped these events, but my sole purpose is #2. People REALLY need to get off their social media. I find that most people are doing this for attention. If social media doesn’t exist anyway, how many people are still willing to attend their ceremony?
