Graduating stuff - I mean really, are you proud to be graduating and not failing?

[MJinZ]

I see all these ads about graduating college. And then there's all these parents who proud of their kids graduating High School. Some even attend their Elementary school or whatever bullshit graduations.

I mean really? What the fuck? Is it really an accomplishment to not be a complete failure who can't even graduate school? :hmm:

 

[ussfletcher]

In Detroit, they are practically awarded keys to the city if they graduate.

 

[bignateyk]

I didn't attend my highschool OR college graduation. Neither one was challenging enough for me to feel proud enough of my accomplishment to warrant standing around like an idiot sweating my ass off for 3 hours.

 

[purbeast0]

considering i almost dropped out of college after my first year i was pretty proud of myself for sticking it out and completing it with a CS degree, especially when UMD was a top 20 school for CS in the country at the time.

 

[SandEagle]

a celebration of mediocrity

 

[shortylickens]

If the quality of freshmen at my college is any indication: Graduating high school is NOT something to be proud of.
And if my experiences right now are indicators, graduating college is only a minor accomplishment.

 

[sdifox]

I attended my son's kindergarten graduation ceremony. They sing a few songs, we talk to other parents and teachers, not bad.

 

[Phokus]

I didn't attend my highschool OR college graduation. Neither one was challenging enough for me to feel proud enough of my accomplishment to warrant standing around like an idiot sweating my ass off for 3 hours.

So what was your major... if it was so easy, you could've done something like 'applied mathematics' to challenge yourself.

 

[sjwaste]

HS graduation was really overblown. I remember realizing that at the beginning of my senior yr when people were already obsessing over class rings, senior pictures, etc. At least in my group of friends, we were all college bound, but I think I remember being the only one that seriously wasn't interested in the cash grab. I was far more interested in the senior trip, prom, the hanging out types of things. The actual graduation itself took forever, as I went to a large school and we had a class of 800.

In college, I attended commencement. I figured that was a big deal for my family, since I was the first to get that far. I remember the main ceremony in the stadium being miserable because we'd all had breakfast drinks and I really had to pee. Our business school breakout just took forever to read all of the damn names. Best part of that day was going back to our house w/ our families and watching our parents try to operate kegs.

For law school, I REALLY didn't want to go. I went because we had to, absent a serious excuse and permission from the dean, and also because my family really wanted to see it.

Cliffs:

HS - graduation a given, not really that proud to do something that easy
Undergrad - sort of exciting, mostly interested in the party afterward
Professional - very proud, but also very unexcited to be at the ceremony

 

[bignateyk]

So what was your major... if it was so easy, you could've done something like 'applied mathematics' to challenge yourself.

Electrical Engineering.

 

[LordMorpheus]

My next graduation will see me getting a Ph.D. We get fancy robes for that. Also, if I ever decide to be a professor somewhere I think you're expected to have your crazy robes from wherever it was that you got your Ph.D.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Ehh ... the effort in school isn't effort to learn the materials, but the effort to stay awake, to be quiet, to behave. Learning the materials takes only 10% the time that they spend, the other 90% of the time is when they waste your time doing reviews and useless repetitions. I found school challenging only because my attention span and sleep schedule were completely 100% incompatible with school. I liked to wake up in the afternoon, and my attention span is about 15 seconds.

 

[bignateyk]

My next graduation will see me getting a Ph.D. We get fancy robes for that. Also, if I ever decide to be a professor somewhere I think you're expected to have your crazy robes from wherever it was that you got your Ph.D.

I think I would go to a Ph.D graduation simply to get the pimpin robe. I went to my sisters hooding ceremony, which was still boring as hell, but at least you get the robe.

 

[RKS]

My older son's pre-school graduation was pretty funny. They didn't have one for kindergarten. HS was required, undergrad was for my parents, law school was for my wife.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I didn't go to my college graduation. If the cap and gown were free, I probably still wouldn't have gone (and it's not like they were expensive, maybe $15). Far as I was concerned, I just wanted it to be over with. Extra crap that waste's everyone's time is pointless.

I did go to my high school graduation but that's different. HS graduations are more about your family and friends. College graduation is all about you.

 

[sourceninja]

I didn't go to my high school graduation. I probably won't go to my college graduation either.

 

[mmntech]

I see all these ads about graduating college. And then there's all these parents who proud of their kids graduating High School. Some even attend their Elementary school or whatever bullshit graduations.

I mean really? What the fuck? Is it really an accomplishment to not be a complete failure who can't even graduate school? :hmm:

It's not an accomplishment but it is a major life milestone. Think of it more as the western way of celebrating a coming of age.


When I graduated high school, we went on a family vacation. We don't travel very often.

Undergrad I got a laptop, but I paid for half of it out of my own pocket. Turned out to be a good investment since I needed it for grad school.

Graduate technical diploma I got nothing. Nobody attended the ceremony including myself. The High school and university ones were excruciatingly boring anyway.

 

[rcpratt]

Graduation is for your parents, not you. High school graduation was certainly a waste, but it's still a sentimental thing for most parents. And if you challenged yourself with your major as an undergrad, I don't see why you wouldn't be proud to graduate. Besides, it's a good excuse to party.

 

[bignateyk]

It's not an accomplishment but it is a major life milestone. Think of it more as the western way of celebrating a coming of age.


When I graduated high school, we went on a family vacation. We don't travel very often.

Undergrad I got a laptop, but I paid for half of it out of my own pocket. Turned out to be a good investment since I needed it for grad school.

Graduate technical diploma I got nothing. Nobody attended the ceremony including myself. The High school and university ones were excruciatingly boring anyway.

My undergrad graduation present was my dad transferring $20K worth of loans he had taken out into my name.

 

[halik]

I see all these ads about graduating college. And then there's all these parents who proud of their kids graduating High School. Some even attend their Elementary school or whatever bullshit graduations.

I mean really? What the fuck? Is it really an accomplishment to not be a complete failure who can't even graduate school? :hmm:

Highschool for sure, but college graduation is for your parents mostly. Same thing goes for Grad school - my mom framed all my tassels

 

[shortylickens]

Ehh ... the effort in school isn't effort to learn the materials, but the effort to stay awake, to be quiet, to behave. Learning the materials takes only 10% the time that they spend, the other 90% of the time is when they waste your time doing reviews and useless repetitions. I found school challenging only because my attention span and sleep schedule were completely 100% incompatible with school. I liked to wake up in the afternoon, and my attention span is about 15 seconds.

Thats pretty much exactly how I feel. In American schooling you spend about 10 percent of your time learning and the other 90 percent of your time proving what you learned. Its hideously inefficient when you think about it. If the system were rearranged we could get more stuff done by the time we were 16 and enter the work force then. Or take a year off and go on to higher education.

 

[PricklyPete]

Reminds me of the Chris Rock bit...

"Hey I take care of my kids...You're supposed to take care of your kids. Whaddya want a cookie?"

 

[dfuze]

I don't see the need for elementry graduations, but I'm proud that after 1 more class this fall I will finally have my bachelors degree after going part time while working for a few years.

 

[chedrz]

I could care less about the actual ceremony. It's the fact that I get a diploma, that I can actually go get a decent-paying job (if one's available) that matters to me. I'm in my 6th year of undergrad and I'm ready to be done with college for a while. After struggling and not enjoying my first 3 years, I feel like graduating at the end of this year will be a major achievement. I've proven to myself, if no one else, that I can do something and be successful and, more importantly, be happy with my success. Graduation from college is a right of passage, of sorts. In a nation where "adulthood" is being viewed more and more as being out of school and able to financially support oneself instead of just by age, graduation is a big step.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Thats pretty much exactly how I feel. In American schooling you spend about 10 percent of your time learning and the other 90 percent of your time proving what you learned. Its hideously inefficient when you think about it. If the system were rearranged we could get more stuff done by the time we were 16 and enter the work force then. Or take a year off and go on to higher education.

The primary purpose of school is babysitting these days. It used to be that most kids had 2 parents and 1 of them stayed home to parent full time. Nowadays that's the exception and not the the rule.
Anyhow, I've found that studying on my own works best, then, every now and again attend a short 2-3 day course on the subject just to reinforce what has been learned, and answer questions. It's been a year or so since I've gone to any of those, but, that's mostly because the only "new" tech for me has been ab initio graphing, and there is a veteran developer at work that I can ask if I have questions or need help.