Later tonight, I graduate High School.

[jdnotbyrider]

More of a current event then a political topic obviously, but today is the day I get my high school diploma, and thankfully since I live in Massachusetts, nobody will be brought up on criminal charges for cheering during the ceremony.  

Any advice for tonight? Any good lucks to be passed around?

[josieposy]

Congrats! Forgive me for going back to the 90's for a moment:



Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '99
Wear sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it
The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists
Whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
Than my own meandering experience, I will dispense this advice now
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth, oh, never mind
You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth
Until they've faded but trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back
At photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now
How much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked
You are not as fat as you imagine



Don't worry about the future
Or know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind
The kind that blindsides you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday
Do one thing every day that scares you
*Sing Chorus*
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts
Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours
Floss
Don't waste your time on jealousy
Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind
The race is long and in the end, it's only with yourself
Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults, if you succeed in doing this, tell me how
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements
Stretch
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.
The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives
Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't
Get plenty of calcium
Be kind to your knees
You'll miss them when they're gone
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't
Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't
Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the 'Funky Chicken'
On your 75th wedding anniversary
Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much
Or berate yourself either
Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's
Enjoy your body, use it every way you can
Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it
It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your own living room
Read the directions even if you don't follow them
Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly
*Sing Chorus*
Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good
Be nice to your siblings, they're your best link to your past
And the people most likely to stick with you in the future
Understand that friends come and go
But a precious few, who should hold on
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle
For as the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young
Live in New York City once but leave before it makes you hard
Live in northern California once but leave before it makes you soft
Travel
Accept certain inalienable truths
Prices will rise, politicians will philander, you, too, will get old
And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young
Prices were reasonable, politicians were noble
And children respected their elders
Respect your elders
Don't expect anyone else to support you
Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse
But you never know when either one might run out
Don't mess too much with your hair
Or by the time you're 40 it will look 85
Be careful whose advice you buy but be patient with those who supply it
Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past
From the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts
And recycling it for more than it's worth
But trust me on the sunscreen
*Sing Chorus*

[downtoearth]

Congrats!  Have any next year plans, and more importantly, did you decorate your hat?

[msmerymac]

josieposy, you missed a golden opportunity to post No Sex In the Champagne Room instead.

[jdnotbyrider]

Jun 5, 2015 10:41:21 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Congrats!  Have any next year plans, and more importantly, did you decorate your hat?

As for next years plans, I'm going to Community College, because fuck the university prices. 

And, sadly and I don't know why, my particular school isn't allowing us to decorate our hat, and is threatening punishment to anyone who does. 

[josieposy]

Jun 5, 2015 10:43:19 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

josieposy, you missed a golden opportunity to post No Sex In the Champagne Room instead.

[LoveTrains]

Jun 5, 2015 10:41:21 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Congrats!  Have any next year plans, and more importantly, did you decorate your hat?

Not all high schoolers wear caps and gowns.

At the school where I work, girls wear white dresses and boys wear khakis and blue blazers with a tie in the school colors. No hats allowed!

[Velvetshady]

Congrats!

[twotrue]

Congratulations!!

[downtoearth]

Jun 5, 2015 11:34:06 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Jun 5, 2015 10:41:21 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Congrats!  Have any next year plans, and more importantly, did you decorate your hat?

Not all high schoolers wear caps and gowns.

At the school where I work, girls wear white dresses and boys wear khakis and blue blazers with a tie in the school colors. No hats allowed!

What? Do you teach communists or fundamental Christians?

{Too soon to bring snark back on the board?}

[penguingrrl]

Congratulations! My advice is to take seemingly frivolous electives while in college. I miss having access to a place to sit and debate great literature or a thought-provoking article with people who are interested in it as my job.

Community College is for sure a smart move and one I will be encouraging my children to take given the cost of higher ed (my student loans will be paid off one year before my oldest starts college). Enjoy it.

Also, don't be shy with professors. I became very close to one professor and she changed my way of thinking a lot.

[msmerymac]

Jun 5, 2015 11:34:06 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Jun 5, 2015 10:41:21 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Congrats!  Have any next year plans, and more importantly, did you decorate your hat?

Not all high schoolers wear caps and gowns.

At the school where I work, girls wear white dresses and boys wear khakis and blue blazers with a tie in the school colors. No hats allowed!

My high school was the same, but we didn't have boys, so it was just all white (long) dresses, and we carried red roses. 

This is the graduating class from my high school this year:

[eponinepontmercy]

My sister went to community college for 2 years and transferred last year to her dream school for her dream major. I hope you end up as happy as she did!

My high school didn't have caps and gowns. It's a small, all-girls, Catholic school - 32 girls in long white dresses on the convent steps.

[Kattey]

Congrats!

[MixedBerryJam]

Jun 5, 2015 11:34:06 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Jun 5, 2015 10:41:21 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Congrats!  Have any next year plans, and more importantly, did you decorate your hat?

Not all high schoolers wear caps and gowns.

At the school where I work, girls wear white dresses and boys wear khakis and blue blazers with a tie in the school colors. No hats allowed!

My son wore a white dinner jacket. He was so handsome!

ETA: D'oh! I forgot to say CONGRATULATIONS OP, whom I cannot seem to tag.

[jln]

Congratulations! Good choice with the community college.

[Deleted]

As a member of the class of 1999, that sunscreen thing hits home a lot more 16 years later than it did at 17. That's for sure.

And OP, congratulations!

[orangeblossom]

Congrats!

[leeba25]

Congratulations! My advice: choose a major that will help you land a job later, but choose electives that will help you think more critically, learn about the world, and expose you to things you'll never again have the ability to pursue. (Russian lit, sociology, anthropology, off the top of my head.)

[josieposy]

I've had that damn song in my head for 5 hrs now.

[debatethis]

Jun 5, 2015 15:00:13 GMT -5 leeba25 said:

Congratulations! My advice: choose a major that will help you land a job later, but choose electives that will help you think more critically, learn about the world, and expose you to things you'll never again have the ability to pursue. (Russian lit, sociology, anthropology, off the top of my head.)

Ditto. And yes this is my Hill To Die On, put please take a critical thinking/rhetoric/logic course and a public speaking course, no matter how big and scary public speaking is to you.

[BAMFMrsB]

Jun 5, 2015 15:11:40 GMT -5 debatethis said:

Jun 5, 2015 15:00:13 GMT -5 leeba25 said:

Congratulations! My advice: choose a major that will help you land a job later, but choose electives that will help you think more critically, learn about the world, and expose you to things you'll never again have the ability to pursue. (Russian lit, sociology, anthropology, off the top of my head.)

Ditto. And yes this is my Hill To Die On, put please take a critical thinking/rhetoric/logic course and a public speaking course, no matter how big and scary public speaking is to you.

TRAVEL. DO IT NOW. 

but yes, make sure you think long term and ask the people in your chosen major how they got a job, what's the job market like today, what do they foresee in 5ish years, etc. 

good luck! 

[StrawberryBlondie]

Congrats!

My advice: study abroad. And while you're studying abroad, travel a ton.

[LadySusan]

Congrats! My advice is no drinking and driving and to just be generally cautious about alcohol and drugs.

[jdnotbyrider]

I wanted to do something memorable, but not offensive or unessesary, so when my name got called up, I walked up, shook the principals hand, got my diploma, waited for the applause to die down, and I yelled, "AT LONG LAST!", which got plenty of laughs.

But anyway, BAM! Fresh out of John Greene Hall, I'm a free man from high school!

[lime]

Congrats!

[chia]

Stumbling into this post from the app...
How did a male hs senior come upon an Internet board full of 25-45 year old women?

Anyway... congrats!!!!

And I totally agree with the study abroad, travelling, and electives advice.

Also, find a "smart sounding" major, if possible. My major was 2 classes different than biochemistry... I should have taken those two classes.... because biochemistry sounds more impressive than what I graduated with.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using proboards

[secretlyevil]

Congrats!

[thejackpot]

Congrats!!