|
May212005
|
Jeff's High School Graduation |
After rolling about of bed sometime after 10 this morning, I got ready to go to Jeff’s graduation this morning with the rest of my family. We arrived shortly after noon for the ceremony which started at one this afternoon. The event, which took place at Northwestern’s basketball stadium, started with the lengthy entrance of the 170 graduates and 50 some-odd other people. The local high school band was there in front of the stage, playing the few famous bars of Pomp and Circumstance repeatedly. I remember thinking it would have been far more interesting had they played the Sir Edward Elger piece in its entirety as it a lively piece of music on the whole. Anyway, the entrance out of the way, the speeches commenced. There was a pretty length intro by the principle. The keynote speaker, whoever, also spoke for a while. These two men spoke for over a half hour and made almost no mention of the graduating students before them. Instead they rambled about the history of the school and all the faculty, and such. They even introduced a large number of board members who were seated on stage. I found all this to be strikingly inappropriate, as a graduation is about the students, not merely the staff the board of directors. I’m sure I would have been rather offended had I been wearing a cap and gown today. The Louisiana School does not have a valedictorian and salutatorian in the traditional sense, although three selected students gave speeches. I don’t like being further critical, but all of the speeches seemed to compare graduating to D-Day, rather melodramatic in my opinion. The phrase “blood, sweat and tears” was used in one speech. Maybe they were talking about P.E. and paper cuts. With most of the showmanship out of the way, the presentation of diplomas began, and proceeded smoothly. Our seats were directly behind what I guess was the best place for pictures. Parents swarmed in front of us with there digicams fighting to get shots of their children. The seating was a good distance from the stage so I would imagine few managed good pictures. I didn’t have much luck myself. There was another short speech afterward, caps went in the air and the graduates made their exit. We met Jeff a little while after the ceremony after he had a chance to say goodbye to his friends. My parents agreed to take Jeff wherever he wanted to get something to eat. He chose this burger joint near the school he was rather fond of and they did have good hamburgers. With stomachs full and causal clothes on again, we made our way home. The car was considerably more crowded this time, with an extra body and a bunch of Jeff’s stuff. I tried my best to sleep through it but I had no success. We arrived home sometime after nine. I went to bed not too long after as I was rather exhausted after the long car ride.