blood and sweat and tears and ink

[bedlamsbard]

Now I'm emotional. Jesus. I went to the high school and picked up my diploma, sent off my final transcript, talked to my band director, drove my friend home, went to the library, saw Narnia again -- still fantastic, thank you very much -- and came home to put my diploma in its case. And...

That piece of paper is thirteen years of blood and sweat and tears and ink. That piece of paper is Dammann, and Morgan, and Ellensburg High. That piece of paper is English and history and calculus and physics and band. That piece of paper is Shakespeare and the Revolutionary War and derivatives and 9.8 m/s/s. That piece of paper is Furioso and October and March to the Scaffold and the fucking Hey Song -- that piece of paper is the Fight Song. That piece of paper is the National Anthem. That piece of paper is late nights and early mornings, bus rides and AP tests, laughter with friends and redhot anger at betrayal, graphite smeared into the side of my hand and blood on the inside of my lips. That piece of paper is time, thirteen years of it and everything I had.

I didn't cry last night at graduation, and I didn't cry during the assembly or the luncheon. I cried when I held that piece of paper in my hands.

Comments

[realpestilence.livejournal.com]

I hated high school-pretty much hated school in general after about the 6th grade. But graduation was still wrenching, because I'd known most of those people the majority of my life and I knew I wouldn't likely see most of them again. The ceremony was a very intense experience. We were lucky enough NOT to have a bunch of people making speeches, thank goodness, there's only so much of that I can take.

It was unbelievable to look around and realize that I was an adult and had to get out there and DO things for myself now. Been a long time, but I can still remember the conflicted feelings.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

I expected the ceremony to be a lot more intense than it was, but it was kind of -- well, see, we usually have our graduation inside at CWU's gym, but since they're renovating it this year, we had it outside on their field (our gym is too small), and it kind of...rained. All day. And a lot of the emotional impact (at least for me) was kind of killed dead by the fact that because of the rain, the band wasn't able to play. (I've been in band for nine years now, and I've played at the last three graduations. I really wanted the band to play at mine.) Plus, it's so confusing and messy and there are so many people...the ceremony itself didn't hit me the way the diploma did afterwards.