The Youngest Graduates

Tuesday marked a day in history for my family.  Or at least for my generation in the family.  My youngest cousin graduated from high school.


It's funny.  That big important day in all our lives is a right of passage into the world.  Either we move on to a job or another school, but at this point we are on our own in at least some form.  The responsibilities begin.  Most of us had jobs.  We lived on our own or in a dorm, or a ruddy apartment with 4 boys, ya know... the usual.  We grew up, or we chose to hold off and have some fun see spring break, frat parties, and road trips.  We traveled the world and I'll tell you some other time about Buenos Aires and Mérida, Mexico and Negril, Jamaica.


Do you know how awfully cheesy graduation is?  Ok.  Recap.  You dress all 600 students in the WORST outfits possible.  Why?  To make everyone look bad together?  Then you get the band together to play awful music.  And it doesn't matter how good this band is, because playing in an auditorium like that makes ANY band sound horrible.  Finally, you have a few seniors giving speeches.  Sometimes you get amazing speeches.  Sometimes you have good speeches, but the kids are so nervous you can't understand them.  You listen to adults speak (and some are quite good, like the guy we heard).  Finally they name EVERY STUDENT (we're talking 600 names here.  It took an hour, at least).  What's funny is they ask you to hold your applause, but no one ever does.  Then you wait until your kid walks, and then wait for the rest to finish, all the while finding ways to pass the time.  In our case, we watched the heals on the girls and tried to guess who would trip, because let's face it.  Someone always does, and it's usually the girl with the tallest heals.  In this case, we were correct.  We waited for 599 students to walk before the last one stumbled.  


It's a very important day.  True.  It's crucial.  At that age it is the all important finish line simply because it's the first.  Reaching it is key to having a successful life, honestly.  Yet, it's still extremely cheesy.


I'm still very proud of my cousin.  It was a huge moment, and being close to him I know it meant the world to him.  So, hats off to him.  He made it.