Graduation day
Today I had the opportunity to give three scholarships and a teacher award at our school's commencement. I figured I'd be barred at the door for my previous comments, but alas, I somehow slipped in and out without any trouble...! :)
This was a fair sized class for The South of Iowa High - 18 students. 10 boys, 8 girls. The class sizes are getting smaller and smaller each year, with 15-18 being average.
One student is headed to Iowa State. I was glad to present her with two of the three scholarships, and even took the opportunity to give her some advice:
1) Practice telling others where her hometown is, because most people will never have heard of it. Don't be afraid to use "south" and "Missouri" in the description; it helps.
2) When in orientation classes, when they ask everyone to stand, then sit down as your graduating class size is called out, don't be too embarrassed when you are the last one standing. This happened to me.
3) Have fun, and go 'Clones!
This graduate had a 3.9xx grade point average, and was obviously named valedictorian. The salutatorian had a 3.342 GPA. I had a similar GPA in high school and was 7th out of 21.
I was a bit disappointed in the turnout. You'd think that some folks could spring for a nice shirt/tie/slacks or a dress or pant suit. After all, your kid only graduates once from high school, right? Instead, t-shirts, jeans, and the occasional ball cap were not uncommon sights. This has become more and more common in the last few years. It's not like they can't afford the clothes; they spend that much each week on cigs and booze, I'd bet.
And there was only one punctuation/grammar error in the program, and it was pretty minor (missing a space between words). Good job! :)
This was a fair sized class for The South of Iowa High - 18 students. 10 boys, 8 girls. The class sizes are getting smaller and smaller each year, with 15-18 being average.
One student is headed to Iowa State. I was glad to present her with two of the three scholarships, and even took the opportunity to give her some advice:
1) Practice telling others where her hometown is, because most people will never have heard of it. Don't be afraid to use "south" and "Missouri" in the description; it helps.
2) When in orientation classes, when they ask everyone to stand, then sit down as your graduating class size is called out, don't be too embarrassed when you are the last one standing. This happened to me.
3) Have fun, and go 'Clones!
This graduate had a 3.9xx grade point average, and was obviously named valedictorian. The salutatorian had a 3.342 GPA. I had a similar GPA in high school and was 7th out of 21.
I was a bit disappointed in the turnout. You'd think that some folks could spring for a nice shirt/tie/slacks or a dress or pant suit. After all, your kid only graduates once from high school, right? Instead, t-shirts, jeans, and the occasional ball cap were not uncommon sights. This has become more and more common in the last few years. It's not like they can't afford the clothes; they spend that much each week on cigs and booze, I'd bet.
And there was only one punctuation/grammar error in the program, and it was pretty minor (missing a space between words). Good job! :)
posted by bgunzy at 5/20/2007 06:43:00 PM
2 Comments:
Just for your own amusement submit your own fake scholarships for when they make the grand scholarship announcements. I made up a couple with code words and hidden meanings for people in the crowd.
My advice for any HS senior.
Cute words for the future ISU freshman. But, usually those presenting awards stay through the ceremony in support of all seniors.
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