Who else hates going to graduations?

[zanana1]

The worst has happened. We've been invited to my husband's nieces' college graduation. I hate graduation ceremonies so much, I had my diploma mailed to me. Don't get me wrong--I think think that getting a degree is quite an achievement. But why do we have to suffer? I told my husband we should skip the graduation and go directly to the post graduation party.

Does anyone else feel the same?

[seabeyond]

1. see... i didnt go to mine either. hubby didnt go to his. we dont want to go to our kids...

wont be going to others. send a niece gift, or some money. and congrat.

all my people know i am not big on things things. love ya.... not doing. will cook a celebratory dinner for all.

wedding too. yuk. we went to JOP

[PassingFair]

2. Yes. HATE them.

Even my own kid's.

The only thing more boring is a swim meet.

[blueknight]

3. im to that point

my wife is a college professor so she HAS to go every year. but we have five kids and im getting tired of sitting thru them as well. the oldest boy is getting his PHD, So that will be 3 for him alone.

[caraher]

4. I skipped mine as an undergrad

And now I'm contractually obligated to attend one every year, in full academic regalia. The ceremonies definitely can be dull, and the more "wisdom" the designated pontificators seek to impart on the distracted audience the worse the speech. They're really just overly-long photo ops for the most part and should be shortened to maybe 30 minutes max, followed by a real party!

[benld74]

15. I skipped my undergrad as well, but was 'made' by wife to go to my MBA,,

would teach our daughters something I was told. I guess I taught them it was ok to skip out after getting my diploma!

[elleng]

18. Skipped mine too, including my JD,

but insisted folks come to my swearing-in before Fed. Court in Chicago.
Going to daughter's Occupational Therapy Masters' Graduation Sunday, tho.
Oh well!


BUT CERTAINLY attending 50th High School Graduation reunion PARTY!!!

[snappyturtle]

5. Yes, I feel the same way! nt

[surrealAmerican]

6. My son, apparently ...

he's graduating high school in a few weeks, and has made it very clear he will not be attending the ceremony.

[zanana1]

8. You should be very proud. nt

[HereSince1628]

7. As a biology prof, I sat through many. Mostly these things are for the parents.

It's a significant and positive end to their large emotional and/or financial investment. I thought that was something worth honoring.

I never attended any of the grad ceremonies surrounding my own degrees. But then my parents didn't pay for any of it, and my father was expressly unsupportive, not wanting to have 'an educated idiot' in the family.

A not close relative lacking a strong connection to the student or the weight of the moment for the parents might do better to go to the post-party site and start the charcoal.

[hack89]

9. Me. Daughter graduates in a month and my wife has already said an Ipod was verbotten.

she thinks it would be rude for some reason.

[noamnety]

10. I love them.

But I work at a high school with graduations like the ones in the Fame movie, and there are 40-80 graduates, it's not hundreds of names to sit through.

[bluedigger]

11. I only have one niece and no nephews so I'd probably endure it.

But if I were in a larger family I would draw the line at children and grandchildren.

Send a nice gift. ($$)

[Rambis]

12. I have worked over 50 of them

It is miserable for us too. The flowers were shit, not enough bathrooms, I just lost 6 $ in the vending machine what are you going to do about it, my son/daughter is special they deserve X Y Z even though they didn't earn it! Happy hour comes very early after commencement.

[mrmpa]

13. I will miss one on Saturday....

because my niece won't walk. She attended community college for 2 years, then transferred to a 4 year school. She completed her degree requirements this past December. She won't walk, she says, "because it's not my class." Not a large school, probably about 150-200 graduates. I'm sad, I don't have any children and I've gone to 4 ceremonies before hers.

[Arugula Latte]

14. I've been dreading my kids' graduations since their birth ... not because of the ceremonies though.

It's because these events will symbolize that their childhoods are over. We still have some time, but the years have gone and way, way too fast. If I could rewind and freeze my kids in elementary school I would.

[treestar]

16. I do. Boring.

I also despise wedding and baby showers. At least they've quit opening the presents. Baby and wedding shower presents are boring, to me at least.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

17. Only went to my College grad because I had won an award,

and it was a cash prize that I had to accept in person. Otherwise I skipped my high school one, as well as prom, and I avoid weddings and the like with a passion. Just not into the pomp and ceremony.

[RebelOne]

19. I hate going to graduations or weddings,

but if the invitation is from a relative or close friend, I feel obligated to attend.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

20. I'm surprised they have room for extended family. At our college it's pretty limited.

As for attending myself, I don't hate them or like them. Skipped both my undergrad and grad ceremonies because I had no interest and had finished up the previous December anyway-- didn't want to bother driving back just for that.

[femmocrat]

21. I hate graduations, showers, weddings, and retirement parties all equally.

If anyone was planning to invite me to one of these memorable occasions, I will just RSVP now. Sorry, I have a root canal on that date.

[csziggy]

22. I made a deal with my parents - I went to my high school graduation

But not another one since. I hated going to that one as a participant. Going to someone else's has got to be deadly boring.

[applegrove]

23. I didn't go to my university granduation. I received my diploma in the mail and by mistake cut

through it trying to get it open.

[mnhtnbb]

24. Never went to graduation ceremonies for my BS or MPH. Our son is graduating

college Sunday and won't attend the big ceremony but has agreed to go to
the smaller departmental functions (double major) which we'll attend with him.

No other family is invited.

[Chan790]

25. I don't know...I was banned from attending mine.

Literally. They made my RD hand me a restraining order in the presence of campus security and an DC-MPD officer. Apparently writing that you're going to pie the commencement speaker (John Ashcroft) for his antithetical to Catholic doctrine rabid-support for capital punishment is considered to be a threat of violence.

Mind you, this is the most-Catholic university in the US. The only one ordained by the Pope. I still think it was inappropriate to invite him after they banned several dozen other people from speaking on campus about unrelated topics for refusing to sign pro-life pledges.

I had to watch myself graduate from my dorm window and they didn't call my name. Fucking Fascists!

[zanana1]

27. YOU WIN! nt

[Chan790]

29. The best part was that my post-graduation job was working for the university.

They said "After this, don't come back to campus" and I said "Okay" got up the next morning and went to work. Sat at lunch with my boss and the University President next to the RD who told me not to come back to campus, gloating that I basically won.

What could they do? My manager was the only other person who could do my job and he was too busy playing video games because nobody knew that our jobs took like 15 minutes a day. Digital Media Specialist, best job ever.

Got paid to play Quake 3 Arena, watch sports on the internet, edit video of lectures and post it to the internet. Sometimes I had to "teach" professors how to blog and post to internet message boards...it's how I actually first discovered DU...I had to help one of my professors learn how to post here. (Ah, early mass public internet access...when people were confused about the easiest crap ever.)

[bif]

26. Obama spoke at my daughter's!

So, beside the security pain in ass, it was awesome!

[susanr516]

28. I guess it depends upon the situation

I didn't walk the stage when I graduated from college; it was just too much of a pain to get dressed up and stand in line.

However, I enjoyed seeing my kids graduate, and I would really like to see my grandson's graduation, but I don't know if that's possible. His brother is severely mentally disabled and I'm always the person who watches him. I never got to see my older grandson play football. It's funny; I gripe about having to go to other graduations and school programs, but I guess not having a choice bums me out.