The Anti-Graduate

-On my sister’s graduation day, the two people in the house who stay up the latest were up the earliest. My mom (who went to bed later than I did the previous night) was up first. I got up a little later after not getting much sleep.

-My sister had to be at the school at 9:30 am while the ceremony itself didn’t start until an hour later. In addition to Mom, Dad, and myself, my Aunt Debra and Grandmother Ella (my paternal grandmother) went to the ceremony. A few more people would have come if we could’ve gotten a hold of some extra tickets. The school only gave each student five tickets.

We told my aunt and my grandmother to be at our place by 9:00 am so we could all leave together. Of course, that didn’t happen as planned. My sister left with my dad to make sure she got there on time. My mom and I didn’t have to even wait five minutes before my aunt showed up. After about another five minutes, my grandmother made it and the four of us left for the school.

-The ceremony was held in the main gym (North Fieldhouse) as it always is every year. We got there early enough not only to get a good parking space, but to also get some decent seats. The weather was not real hot, but humid with periodic bouts of rain. The gym has no air conditioning, which meant that many a program was used as a makeshift fan.

Fortunately, the ceremony wasn’t long. It started on time and ended just before noon. However, there is one major complaint I had with it. The diplomas weren’t given in alphabetical order. They were given out according to the counselor. When I went to Thornwood, the counselors’ students were divvied up based on alphabet. The way the divisions are now seem to have no rhyme or reason. It was a trip to read the names as they were being called and see some names skipped, only to be called when the next counselor came to the podium to read them off. However, there is really one reason why I didn’t like the way they called the names. My sister, whose last name is Fisher, was in the final group of names to be called. That’s right...people with last names such as Williams got to get their diplomas before she did.

-As I read through the program for the ceremony, one thing came to my mind...what is a Challenge Diploma?

-After the ceremony was over, we waited for my sister to come back from getting her diploma (since they only gave the students their diploma cover when they walked across the stage). I went over to another area to inquire about getting a videotape of the graduation. The Video Club handled the filming of the ceremony. It’s a shame that there won’t be a Video Club come next year.

-My sister dubbed herself “The Anti-Graduate” after we got home. Why? Well, everything we did after the ceremony was the opposite of what is “normal.” Did we take pictures afterwards and meet her friends? Nope. My sister didn’t want to take any pictures. Did we go out to a restaurant to eat? Nope. Instead, we went home and ended up getting some Chinese food. Frankly, it was good to be home, though. Plus, the Chinese food was damn good. Also, we wouldn’t have the joy of having leftovers if we went to someplace like Old Country Buffet.

-After all of us got home, I rode with my dad to take my grandmother home and to pick up the Chinese food. When we returned, our family friend Rhonda had dropped by with Monie’s graduation present, the movie You Got Served on DVD. Most of us watched the movie. Me and Samone knew what to expect (and how hilariously bad the movie was), so we had a good time with it. Rhonda sat there amazed at the badness, while my mom and aunt dozed off. Oh, and the present I got for her was Evanescence’s album “Fallen.” She thought about getting it, but “didn’t want to pay any money for it.” So, I got it for her.

-The other highlight of the day (apart from the Graduation) was what happened after we finished You Got Served. Mom, Dad, Samone, Aunt Debra, and myself all went to see Shrek 2. We tried to go for the 4:00 pm show, but it was sold out. Fortunately, the theater we went to had shows nearly every half-hour, so we went to the 4:30 show. I’m going to make my review of Shrek 2 a separate post, but I can tell you it was damn funny. Every single one of us enjoyed the movie. And judging by the pretty large crowd in the theater, this movie is going to make a lot of money.

-So, that’s how the Graduation Day went. My sister joins me as an alumnus of Thornwood High School and now she gets a couple of weeks before her orientation at Northern Illinois University and a couple of months before her studies start there. But for now, I hope she just enjoys some pure laziness for a while.