Graduation Ceremony

Since graduation gown already given to students, we take this opportunity to take picture with people we love

A ceremony is part of our culture that we can’t separate ourselves from. We have all kind of ceremony: wedding ceremony, naming ceremony, graduation ceremony and much other more. Today in particular, however, I would like to talk about the latest one in the list: graduation ceremony!

In my country Indonesia, or probably in all country, this is considered the most important day in the family’s life to the extent that it feels like the day is more important to them than to the person who graduated that day. The whole family (even the extended family from both sides, father and mother) would risk coming. And what makes it even funnier is that, in some university like Syiah Kuala University Aceh, students are not allowed to bring guest more than 2, which means only the parents are invited. The rest family then have to wait outside the building. And yes, the ceremony takes place indoor.

I remember when I was a kid, around 4 or 5, my mom’s cousin graduated from one of the universities in our province’s capital city, Banda Aceh. Being a small town boy I was, I just liked the idea of visiting a big city and so did my mom. So we got along with the main family to Banda Aceh to join the celebration. There were more than ten of us coming that day from small town to big city just to celebrate my sister’s graduation day! So to speak. The truth is, I think these small town people just want to see a big city. And the graduation part is just their excuse to execute their desire.

In less than two weeks, our department will be having a graduation ceremony. Since I study abroad, none of my family members come. Well, my father did for a second think to come, but soon I told him that we shouldn’t waste money in this economic crisis (which is our day to day situation). “We better save those money for my master degree Dad,” I would say. And soon, my Dad forgets the whole idea of coming. But seriously though, would you sacrifice that much of money just for a day celebration? I wouldn’t! Doesn’t mean that I don’t want my parents to be around during my happy day. It’s just not all of us are fortunate enough to be able to do what they want. Some people are just happy with the fact that their needs are fulfilled.

So what kind of preparation I do for the big day?

First and foremost, I try to finish my school obligations such as submitting my graduation paper, which I’ve already done a week ago. I’m still waiting for the approval from my supervisor, though. And some other thing that I yet need to handle is the two courses I take this semester, which its final exams are due on May the 29^th. It may sound strange, but we do the celebration before even we know the result of our last exams. It’s a kind of tricky, but we have no other choice than doing what’s instructed.

Apart from these things, I also try to blend in with the tradition. Normally during the day, the student graduates would dress up fancily, the male students would wear suit and tie, and the female students too would pick fancy dresses. In my part, I’ve been looking up for suit in several stores, until one day I got a notification from Zara saying that they were having huge sales. I opened the link and saw the prices (this is important! I buy thing based on its price. Not whether I like or not) and it’s really affordable and even cheap comparing to other stores. So I went there the next day, and search over the racks to find my size. No, there is no jacket left for my size. I tried no 46, which is slightly bigger on me, especially the sleeve. But I took it anyway, knowing that the store can do some cutting to make it fit on me. And that’s it, that’s going to be my dress for the day: a navy colored suit by Zara.

Last Monday I added another thing to the item, a shirt, which I didn’t buy together with the suit because I ran out of the budget that time. After visiting all stores existed in Izmir, I finally got a white dress shirt from Suvari costs 60TL but then they guy gives me extra 8% discount which makes it 45TL. I actually wanted to wear a light blue shirt, but the guy at the store I visited earlier told me that my skin color is too dark to wear that color. It out-lights my face, he says. Stupid me for trusting the guy; now I sort of having a second thought about wearing a white shirt. HAHA

Last, but not least, I need a pair of shoes! I haven’t bought it yet. Still looking around hoping to find a cheap and good shoe. I hope it will pop up soon!

So looking forward to the day when I put on a suit for the first time!

What’s yours most interesting story about graduation ceremony? Tell me down below!