As a Student
Practice your graduation speech. If you are the valedictorian of your graduating class or if you were chosen as the speaker for your graduation, practice and perfect your speech. Go over your speech and recite it every day for the weeks leading up to your graduation. Take note of phrases you need to emphasize and some important points of your speech. Run through your speech multiple times every day to check for any parts that don't flow right or any grammatical errors. You can also thank teachers and mention important events during the year. Aim to speak for 2-4 minutes. Change your tone throughout the speech. You don't want to speak in a monotone voice throughout the whole speech, as your audience (parents, teachers, staff, students) will get bored. Ask your language arts teachers for advice to make sure your speech flows well. Talk about memories you have had with the school, such as during important events and fond memories of teachers. Don't be shy to loosen up a bit during some parts of your speech. The speech isn't supposed to be entirely serious, so you can add a few jokes and quips.
Try on your graduation gown. You may have had to wear this during picture day but try it on during the weeks leading up to graduation. Make sure that it still fits you and that the gown goes down to at least your ankles. To wear it, open up the gown by unzipping it, put your hands through the sleeves, then zip it up again. The zipper should be on the front of the gown. If you're in elementary school or middle school, the school may issue out graduation gowns during picture day or in the weeks leading up to graduation. The gown shouldn't be dragging on the floor or bunching up anywhere. It should be loose and flowy, with the bottom of the gown reaching to your ankles. If you bought your own gown for picture day but you can't fit into it anymore, you may need to buy another one.
Put on your graduation cap. The cap is often only one size, so you may need to place pins and clips in your hair to keep the cap on. The pointed part of the cap faces the back of your head, so comb your hair and pull the edges of the cap onto your head. The mortarboard (the hard, square piece on the cap) should be parallel to your head; it shouldn't sag down to the bottom of the cap or touch the front of your cap too much. Put the tassel on too; put it on the raised part in the middle of the cap and slide it to the right. You will move the tassel to the left again after everyone has received their diplomas. If you bought the cap yourself, you can return it and buy another one if the cap is too small or too large for your head. If the school issued caps, you may need to adjust it on your own by putting bobby pins and clips in your hair.
Pick out the clothes you wear underneath your graduation gown. You can't wear casual clothing like a T-shirt and jeans underneath your graduation gown, as they will be visible. You'll need to wear at least a white shirt and formal bottoms like a skirt or dress pants. Females can pick out a neutral-colored dress (think light or dark pink, blue, yellow, black). Most females wear dresses to graduation, but if your school allows skirts and pants, you can wear those too. Males will usually wear suits underneath their gowns, or at least a plain polo shirt and dress pants. Pick out formal dress shoes. Choose flats or high heels to pair with dresses. Don't wear high heels to your elementary school graduation; these will definitely hurt your feet. You can wear flats though. Pick out dress shoes to go along with suits; leather or suede shoes will work. You can usually wear any type (Oxfords, Derbys, etc.), but always check in to make sure. If you want to wear heels to your graduation but regular high heels hurt your feet, try out block heels, chunky heels, and other thick-heeled shoes that will offer better support to your feet. You may also wear flats. Put on makeup if you want. Some people want to look all natural during their graduation, but if you want to put on makeup, put some on! If you are graduating elementary school or middle school, it is unnecessary to put on makeup, as you are a bit young for that.
Practice walking in your high heels. If you are wearing heels to your graduation, you may find it difficult to walk in them at first. You may wobble around or walk very slowly at first. So, walk around your house in your heels. Practice walking upright without slouching with your heels on. Confidently walk by stepping one foot after the other. Try not to spread your legs too far apart when walking; this will make your posture look strange. You should also practice walking up stairs with your heels if you need to walk on stairs to go onto the stage for the ceremony.
Pay attention during graduation practices. Your school will probably have a couple of graduation practices before the actual ceremony. The number of practices will probably increase as you go up more grade levels, like going from 5th grade graduation to 8th grade and eventually 12th grade graduation. This is because each one is more important than the previous one; you will need to rehearse the graduation ceremony more times to get the specifics right. Your teachers will go over what happens in the ceremony, and there will be a few test runs of the actual thing. Your teachers will correct you if something goes wrong, so don't be afraid of messing up. This is when you can actually practice walking to your seat confidently, practice walking up to the stage, and pretending to receive your diploma. Your school may let the whole grade level practice standing up and sitting down at the same time to make the ceremony more coordinated. They may say a cue (e.g. the end of the principal's speech) for everyone to stand up or sit down.
Take the time to prepare right before the graduation ceremony. If you have made it to the day of graduation, congrats! Take some time to prepare your clothing and make sure everything fits right. Wear your whole outfit, from the formal clothes to your gown, cap, and shoes. Style your hair before you wear your cap to make sure your hair fits well inside the cap. Put clips and bobby pins on the back of your hair if the ceremony is outdoors, as the wind may blow your cap off. If you are in elementary school or middle school, your parents are likely to take you to your graduation ceremony by car. Tell your parents to take you to the ceremony 20-30 minutes earlier in case of traffic or other delays. You don't want to be late to your graduation ceremony! Go to the bathroom before the ceremony; nerves may make you want to go, and you don't want to hold it in in case you need to go on stage.
Be patient and stay calm during the ceremony. You may want to practice your patience early on if you don't have much of it. You may have to wait 30 minutes or longer for the diploma ceremony to start, as valedictorian speeches, head-of-school speeches, and teacher speeches may take up a lot of time. You will have to sit in your seat and wait. This might increase your nerves. Breath and think about a happy memory you had. You can also count, fidget with your hands, or think of a relaxing song. Don't get so engrossed in your daydreaming that you forget your cue to stand up or go on stage! When you see the principal or head of school come up to speak after speeches have ended, be prepared to stand up soon.
As a Guardian
Buy flowers if desired. Many families bring a bouquet of flowers to their child's graduation ceremony. You can bring the flowers for a photo shoot with your child and the rest of your family. Get a bouquet of flowers like roses, carnations, or chrysanthemums to celebrate your child's graduation. After the ceremony, they may want to take pictures while they are holding the flowers.
Prepare your cameras and video equipment. Most parents take pictures of their graduating kids on stage while receiving their diploma and when walking on and off the stage. Make sure that your phone/camera is working well. If more than one family member is attending, you may want to ask the other relatives to take photos/videos in case your phone/camera isn't working. Some enthusiastic guardians video-record the whole ceremony and take countless pictures with their kids and their kids' friends after. Ask your child first if they want the ceremony to be recorded and if they want you to take pictures of them with their friends. If you do this without their permission, they may feel annoyed at you for disrespecting their boundaries.
Bring your child's siblings and relatives to the ceremony. Check in with your other kids' schedules and see if they can attend your student's graduation. You may have to cancel some of their extracurriculars (if they aren't mandatory ones) for them to attend, but it is worth it. You can also bring a few relatives such as uncles, aunts, and grandparents if they live near the location of the ceremony. Make sure the siblings are well-behaved and can withstand sitting for an hour or more.
Arrive early to the ceremony. It's best to not go to the ceremony when there are only 5-10 minutes before it starts. Be early in case something happens which causes delays. For example, if the ceremony is scheduled to start at 5 PM, get there at 4:40 PM or earlier depending on how far away you live from the ceremony location. Plus, it is harder to find parking spots and seats if you arrive later. Make sure your child is completely ready and double-check if anyone is missing anything, so you don't have to go back home and grab it. As you are waiting for the ceremony to start, chat with fellow parents. You can also try looking for your child in the rows of seats reserved for students.
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