So today is May 1st, which marks the beginning of May and graduation season being in full effect. I posted this message during the past four years for the previous four graduating classes (Classes of 2021-2024), and I’m going to post it for the fifth time for the Class of 2025 although it can also apply to you underclassmen (Classes of 2026-2028) when you become graduating seniors next year or two or three years from now.
If your school is holding an in-person graduation (which they most likely are as COVID is long gone at this point), please go to it and don’t skip it. I personally was a part of the Class of 2020 and five years ago back in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic became a thing, which abruptly ended my senior year two months earlier than it should have and canceled most of my senior events such as Prom, Senior Ditch Day, Senior Breakfast, An Actual Last Day of High School, etc. However, I was grateful for my school district to still hold an in-person graduation even though it was delayed about a month later towards the end of June, held outdoors at a hot and windy football stadium, socially distanced, and only allowed a limited number of guests to attend (six guests per graduate). Now with all that being said, there were also many other graduating high school seniors who graduated the same year as me but at different schools and had to have their graduation ceremonies held virtually or didn’t even get to have a graduation ceremony at all due to COVID.
Unless you can find a way to repeat your senior year and be a super senior or travel backwards in time (which is theoretically impossible), you only get one high school graduation in your life and that’s it. Many people who said that they themselves skipped their graduation later regretted skipping it due to them not having that memory of walking across the stage unlike many other people such as their classmates. I also understand that some of you don’t want to get bored by sitting and listening to some speeches and a bunch of names being called for a couple of hours, but it’ll be the very last time you’ll see and/or hear from most of your classmates and teachers along with your whole graduating class being in one setting (this can be a sad or happy feeling depending on how much you like or dislike them). Not to mention you’ve worked your butt off for the past 13-14 years (ever since fall 2012, fall 2011 for some of you if you started school late or repeated a grade) for the moment to happen, so the achievement needs to be embraced somehow.
TL;DR: Go to your high school graduation. You might not regret not going now, but you may regret not going when you get older.