If Hogwarts Had Graduation at Fashion Week

Now before I start this blog post I just want to say, don't be mad. In fact, you don't have to be mad because I was mad at myself for you. All evening. I tried really hard not to be though. Valeria invited Michol and I to UFT's graduation. It was the craziest (in a good way) graduation I've ever been to. I left my camera on the bed. Sigh.

For starters, there were students from four departments: History, Geography, Math, and Letters (my department). They reminded me of the four houses in the Harry Potter series. Their robes were black and wizard cape like and were lined with the colors of their departments (red, green, blue, and lilac). Each robe had a bow and sash with its corresponding color. They had three professional photo booths set up for the graduates and the entire ballroom was configured around a long runway with faculty heads on one end and graduates on the other. While waiting for the graduation to start we listened to club music and enjoyed the smoke machines and laser light show. When it was time to start the lasers did a countdown and then a curtain opened and there were all the graduates.

Each graduate had their name called and they danced/club pointed down to runway to receive their diplomas which were in the department color's cylinders so it looked like a traditional scroll. The best part,however, was that the lasers flashed their names the entire time they got their diplomas so you could never forget who was walking down. At many graduations I've attended they always want you to be quiet till the end because there are so many people, but here there were only maybe 60 or so graduates so not only was cheering allowed but it seemed like it was a contest to see whose family could cheer the loudest. During their long walk there and back people popped balloons, blew fog horns, broke confetti over the graduates heads, put babies on the runway to hand their mom flowers, terrorist fist gabbbed,lol. It was a real party. As it should be.

I was thinking to myself, I couldn't have had a graduation like that cuz I'd have thought I was Tyra Banks and acted a plum fool but they had fun and we did too. When they weren't banging U.S. songs in techno style the music was epic. I mean epic. Like back to the future walking toward your destiny kinda serious. But it is serious. Anybody who's ever graduated from anywhere knows the work that goes into that moment. Now there was still your share of boring speeches at the end but regardless this was hands down the most spirited graduation I've ever been to. I came home exhausted as it didn't start till 8:30 p.m. People ask me about my nightlife here. It's pretty much non-existent in large part because the party doesn't start till 1 a.m. and anyone who knows me knows I'm well sleep by then,lol.

Me after a night of graduation fun

(People also ask me often why I don't know what size I wear. It's cuz I've more or less worn the same size since middle school. I wore this dress to my freshman homecoming when I was 13.)