Graduation Stories

FROM: Robert [E-Mail]
DATE: Saturday May 18, 2002 -- 1:34:20 pm

I nearly threw up when I graduated from college because I had been sick for days and the sun was intense that day.

FROM: Matt
DATE: Sunday May 19, 2002 -- 12:29:46 am

I wore a nice Hawaiian shirt and informed Ryan that there were "snacks at my room afterwards."

FROM: Barbara
DATE: Monday May 20, 2002 -- 7:19:07 am

During my college graduation the person next to me played tetris on his gameboy throughout the ceremony.

FROM: Alan Gee
DATE: Monday May 20, 2002 -- 6:33:53 pm

I'll be outta high school in like three weeks- I'll let you know how mine goes.

FROM: Marcus Mackey
DATE: Tuesday May 21, 2002 -- 1:44:44 am

At my High School graduation in '93, it was so windy that when we through our mortarboards in the air... they all went about 8 rows behind where we initially threw them. Since they were all rented... we were all hunting around trying to find the mortar we came with (believe it or not, ours had our names in 'em). I finally said "forget this" and grabbed the first one I found. :-D Hey, got out of there pretty quick...

btw, they were the f'ugliest cap and gowns I can imagine, then again our school colors were at the peril of a combined school scenario. Morton East used to have the Mustangs, and Morton West (my school) was the Falcons. Morton East's school colors were Maroon and White, Morton West's were Green and Silver/Grey. Well... they took a poll between the schools, and East (being in Cicero) had 2x's the enrollment, not to mention the students cheated and stuffed the ballot box (sounds like Florida's dangling chad problem). Therefore, the new combined school mascot was the "Mustangs", and the school colors were to be maroon and white... but since we lost, and they realized what happened, they did the worst thing. They "combined" the colors. Yeah, that's right... maroon, green, silver and white. Gotta' love them caps and gowns... ::making face::

At my community college graduation in '95 (with honors ::bowing::), I had to choose between sitting with the Engineering or Design graduates as I had 2 Associate's. I chose to sit with Engineering and I was the only one there. There were 5 Design people that graduated, and like 300+ Physical Therapist Assitants and 500+ Nurses. It seemed like they were finding people and saying "hey, come sit over here and take one of these degrees, we need to fill chairs". LoL I had no idea our school had that many in those programs. At least our gowns were nicer... blue isn't bad.

At Columbia College when I graduated in 2k (with honors ::bowing::)... there was this guy that like sat a couple rows back with a shaven head that's like really awesome at Web Design. I guess he does like this site called Phonezilla.net that's pretty cool and works on another site called "The Daily Ping". Anyone heard of either of 'em?

Didn't think so...

Anyhow, we had our ceremony at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Pavillion since the only sports teams Columbia has are "Ultimate Frisbee" and the perennial "Quake 3 Arena Tournament". We came in and it was all lit like the start of a Hockey game, with spotlights sorta' waving around, and us being marched in. Being that we were a design school almost in foremost; I think I saw more people wearing stuff other than the mortar and tassle than I have anywhere else. Everything from some girl with like a Chiquita Banana pile of fruit to like cardboard hats, stocking caps, hawaiian shirts under their robe (with robe open) and anything else you could imagine. Many of which attached the tassle to them. Leave it to design students to buck the system/tradition...

...and as always, our Dean was handily boo'ed. Not that he didn't deserve it... The school continually raised their tuition by about an average of $1,000 every two terms. All to buy more buildings downtown and put in new elevators that don't work any better than the old ones, just look nicer (for about a week).

Hey, and silver gowns... not too shabby. Yet our school found a way to put some $-making into graduation. The coolest tassle you could have, you paid $5 for and it was lavender and silver metallic (school colors). Otherwise, you had a gold one (with honors) or a silver one (without). Ahh, the wonders of a capitalist money-grubbing school. ;-)

So far, that's my graduation(s) that I can speak of. One of these days when I get my Master's I'll speak of how I streaked across campus....

...then again...

nah, maybe not. ;-)

FROM: Marcus Mackey
DATE: Tuesday May 21, 2002 -- 1:46:27 am

"At my High School graduation in '93, it was so windy that when we threw our mortarboards in the air..."

D'oh... there's my quality education showing. LoL Sorry, flashback to when I took my ACT in crayon... ;-)

FROM: Ken
DATE: Tuesday May 21, 2002 -- 9:17:12 am

I have a picture of me on my graduation party
for High School getting a EPSON FX
line printer for my C-64, in the geekiest of
rugby shirts....sigh.

FROM: King Random
DATE: Saturday June 15, 2002 -- 10:35:21 pm

Marcus, man, you sure have a lot to say. No offence, your stuff was pretty funny, but that was one heck of a posting. Keep up the typing.

FROM: Christine
DATE: Saturday July 6, 2002 -- 10:00:12 pm

When I graduated from my local community college with an Associates Degree, we "lucky" graduates for that year got to wear these ugly silver caps and gowns to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the college. They made everyone look like fat aliens.

FROM: Mi\'esha Robinson
DATE: Thursday May 22, 2003 -- 12:34:14 pm

There should be some longer, funnier stories.

FROM: Paul
DATE: Thursday May 22, 2003 -- 12:38:36 pm

There should be world peace, too, but I don't see you doing anything about it.

(rimshot) Thank you! I'll be here all week!

FROM: Dave Walls [E-Mail]
DATE: Thursday May 22, 2003 -- 2:04:53 pm

Whoever was speaking at my highschool graduation years ago was so dreadfully boring, and going long, that we broke out a couple of beach balls and started to bat them around. The crowd loved it, because we were outdoors, sitting in the scorching sun and this guy was blabbing. Finally, he got upset, called us the rudest class he'd ever seen, and stormed off, to plenty of jeers.

I'm REAL proud of that. :)

FROM: jam
DATE: Saturday March 20, 2004 -- 6:46:02 am

i remember my graduation from grade school when we were all sitting there and when it ended, one class fired off rounds of party poppers and the rest of the grade school population ducked and ran thinking that war has arrived

FROM: kimikki
DATE: Sunday January 1, 2006 -- 11:19:33 am

At my high school graduation, all those years ago, someone stashed a keg of beer behind the civic center. Those in the far reaches of the line got to partake while they waited for the line to move, allowing them entry to the ceremony. I was near the front of the line. Dang! Miss all the good stuff.

FROM: Kat
DATE: Wednesday March 8, 2006 -- 5:41:37 am

i had a very bad headache after the graduation becoz of the cap...

FROM: Kelli
DATE: Monday March 13, 2006 -- 10:23:25 am

For my Graduation in a couple of months, the staff is plannning on this: If there is more than 8 beach balls and/or freesbies or another camera man gets hit in the head with a roll of toilet paper. They will cancel the whole thing. No matter what and that is what they are going to stick to.

FROM: Cay
DATE: Thursday June 1, 2006 -- 9:47:06 pm

When i graduated middle school i created quite a sean. The school mascot were sharks. So natrally when i was cleaning out our garage a week befor graduation and found a giant inflatable pool whale, an idean began froming. The night befor graduation i snuck over to the school with the shark that i filled wtih helium. I put it on this fancy colom thing in frount of our gym. Right behinde the stage they set up. I hoped it would fly but it didn't. Anyway in the middle of the ceramony, i don't know how but the whale came loose and glided down onto the stage, right into the princapal. The helium aparently kept it higher up when it glided so it went farter. I gess it would of suck if it hit the crowd.

FROM: Ryan [E-Mail]
DATE: Thursday June 1, 2006 -- 11:48:02 pm

Every word that was misspelled in that last comment:

sean natrally befor idean froming befor wtih colom frount behinde ceramony princapal aparently farter gess

FROM: jk
DATE: Friday June 2, 2006 -- 12:21:49 am

of = have

If you really try, I bet you can find more errors! Kelli has some fragments that need to be addressed as well.

This is why I am not a teacher. ack