Graduation

Last night was Mason's younger brother's high school graduation and we were invited to attend.  This was the first graduation that either of us had been to, and we were prepared for the worst: crowds, noise, and boring speeches.  Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad, but these are things that I think people could learn. 

1.  I'll start at the beginning of the ceremony.  When the graduates are entering, you might be told not to stand.  There is a reason for this.  Everyone wants to take pictures, but as soon as one person stands another can't see their son or daughter walking.  This kind of ruins the moment so please be courteous of others and take pictures seated so that everyone can see. 

2.  The speeches.  Some of them were actually very well thought out, but there was only one that actually sticks in my mind as the best.  This girl was the first to come up, but she was the most lively in my opinion.  She smiled at the audience and didn't look at her notes too often.  Most of the speakers did not have a problem with the notes, but they did have a problem with smiling.  Many would go up there with straight faces while they pulled jokes on stage.  The key is to connect with your audience.  When you have a speech that you want to be inspirational and memorable, you need to make it that way.  Just words will not bring that out.  Show your personality on stage, but in a modest and respectful way.  It can be hard, but remember to have fun!

3.  There is often a long list of students graduating.  At the graduation I went to, there was over 400.  When I heard that number I started panicking.  Common sense told me not to clap for every single person because it would be too tiring.  I knew that at the end they would have a big round of applause for the graduates. 

Some people did not clue into this factor, but they also did not clap for every person.  Those friends and families would scream as loud as they could only for the person that they knew.  It was pretty sad when the auditorium filled with noise for one kid, and then it was deadly silent for the next graduate.  In my opinion (this may not be your opinion) this is disrespectful.  Yes, you love and support your child or friend, but you should also support every graduate.  Screaming out your lungs for one person would make the next person feel bad when no one screams for them.  I believe what you should do is scream with everything you got when they say, "WELCOME THE 2012 (or whatever year) GRADUATES!"  The graduates are partying on stage so why shouldn't you show how proud you are for each and every one of them?  Your son or daughter was not the only one to graduate, and you should not only care about them. 

4. Random annoyances at any type of ceremony:
Cell phones!  Most people are nice enough to at least turn their phones on silent or vibrate during the ceremony, but there was one particular person behind us that had his phone on sound, and it kept going off.  He did not turn the sound down throughout the whole ceremony.  This is a ceremony!  You're attention should be on the graduates.  They only graduate high school once, and you can play on your phone whenever. 

Babies.  Yes, I know that no one can help it when a baby cries during a ceremony.  It's embarrassing for the mom, and it's distracting/annoying for the audience.  The truth is that if your baby is especially fussy, you should not bring them to the ceremony.  If you cannot do this, then please think of others.  It is definitely okay to try and calm them down for a couple minutes before taking them out of the room, but to sit there for over a half hour with a screaming baby?  This is not what people want to hear when they're trying to listen to speeches.  Take your baby out until he/she calms down enough.  I know this isn't something that you want to do because you don't want to miss the ceremony, but you are disrespecting the graduates on stage if you don't quiet your baby. 

Hats during the national anthom.  Talk about disrespectful.  I know what it is like to have a fiance/husband that wears his hat all the time.  Mason tells me all the time that he can't stand not having his on, but he still takes it off for the national anthom.  He has never once not done this.  Sadly, there were several people that stood up but did not take their hats off.  This is extremely disrespecful, and many people will get mad at you for it.  Instead of causing a disruption/distraction, be respectful and take off that hat for a few minutes.  It will not hurt you. 

These are all of the things that got under my skin during the ceremony, and I know that I was not the only one.  Please keep these things in mind when you attend any kind of ceremony.  Most of these things are all built around respecting others.  It's not hard to be respectful... right?