Anyone considering not going to graduation?

[lipstikisntfood]

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Anyone considering not going to graduation? For people who did not attend, any regrets?

 

[WellWornLad]

I didn't attend my undergrad graduation, and I have no regrets. I'll probably avoid my MD graduation if at all possible, I find those type of events a little too anti-climactic and self-congratulatory. Not to mention boring.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

They are boring as ****, but they are more for your friends, family, and faculty that you've built a relationship with over your time in school, than for you.

 

[BozoSparky]

graduation = closure! I kind of like the idea, it could be fun, too.

also, if you have family/friends who are interested in coming, it might be disappointing if you bail on them...

i can understand not wanting to go if it's more travel or just feeling jaded...

 

[Kedan]

The last one I went to was primary school (such that it could be called a graduation) and since then I've managed to ditch all the rest. Unfortunately, people started buying plane tickets and crap a good 18 months before graduation. Touche family. Anyway, I'm only promising to walk across the stage, this sitting for hours listening to some random dude/dudette speak is not a good use of my time. I might have been inclined to care if we had our own graduation but it's part of the University ceremony i.e. we're marginalized in favour of the larger faculties.

 

[Mr hawkings]

The last one I went to was primary school (such that it could be called a graduation) and since then I've managed to ditch all the rest. Unfortunately, people started buying plane tickets and crap a good 18 months before graduation. Touche family. Anyway, I'm only promising to walk across the stage, this sitting for hours listening to some random dude/dudette speak is not a good use of my time. I might have been inclined to care if we had our own graduation but it's part of the University ceremony i.e. we're marginalized in favour of the larger faculties.

I have never been to a graduation in my life. I skipped the high school, college and grad school graduations. I've never regreted it but my mother has made me promise participate in the med school graduation for her and my dad. I think they just want it for the pictures to show off.

I agree that its more for the family than us.

 

[Ashers]

At my school it's a requirement to go to graduation. There's no way to get out of it. =(

The only graduation of mine that I wanted to go to was my high school; it was in Hawai'i, and Hawaiian graduations are awesome. My parents made me go to my college graduation. They're all a waste of time.

 

[slight365]

No university graduation for me. Why would I want to bother sitting there, not knowing anyone there? I'm a drop in that 5 quart bucket. I can do other **** that day.

Unless by the end of this I have a great relationship with the faculty and the people I am going to school with, I'm not going. I had a great relationship with my university and still credit them for actually caring, but they were drops in the bucket as well.

 

[slight365]

No university graduation for me. Why would I want to bother sitting there, not knowing anyone there? I'm a drop in that 5 quart bucket. I can do other **** that day.

Unless by the end of this I have a great relationship with the faculty and the people I am going to school with, I'm not going. I had a great relationship with my university and still credit them for actually caring, but they were drops in the bucket as well.

 

[Kedan]

At my school it's a requirement to go to graduation. There's no way to get out of it. =(

The only graduation of mine that I wanted to go to was my high school; it was in Hawai'i, and Hawaiian graduations are awesome. My parents made me go to my college graduation. They're all a waste of time.

I love when they do this. So how do they enforce this rule?

My high school made attendance mandatory. I still didn't go and they've been sitting on my diploma since then. I was a little pissed but I got over it. Med school diploma trumps high school diploma anyday.

 

[basupran]

Didn't go to college, no regrets. Not gonna go to med school, again no regrets.

 

[FutureInternist]

My school threatened denying graduation to students who didn't show up for graduation w/o a really valid reason 🙄

 

[Ashers]

I love when they do this. So how do they enforce this rule?

My high school made attendance mandatory. I still didn't go and they've been sitting on my diploma since then. I was a little pissed but I got over it. Med school diploma trumps high school diploma anyday.

Attending commencement is a "graduation requirement" which probably means you don't get your diploma, you're not officially an MD if you don't meet all graduation requirements. The school may be able to withhold transcripts, copies of the diploma, etc...

I think exceptions may be made in dire circumstances (eg. student is hospitalized or something).

 

[Richspiders07]

Just get really drunk before... or how about bringing your ipod/iphone and watching a movie??

 

[tallenough]

At my school it's a requirement to go to graduation. There's no way to get out of it. =(

The only graduation of mine that I wanted to go to was my high school; it was in Hawai'i, and Hawaiian graduations are awesome. My parents made me go to my college graduation.

my bf went to Yale. He is from Hawai'i and the director of the program was from Hawai'i. So they had this big party with everyone wearing leis. as for me, I got bribed into going to graduation...said there was no way I was going to spend money on some silly looking outfit. So my advisor said I could have the gown and cap for free if I went.

 

[CanIMakeIt]

Not going to graduation. Will travel instead.

 

[Cirrus83]

I know I'd have regretted it if I hadn't gone to my undergrad graduation, if only for the photos and videos of that day.

 

[footcloud]

Totally pointless. I have to admit that if I didn't get into medicine, I wouldn't have gone to my undergrad one. I don't want people to ask me where I am going next year, blah blah. And even though I did get in, I still didn't want to go. It was a very long and boring ceremony. Did it for my parents. I looked ugly in my pictures too.

 

[searun]

I am definitely attending my med school graduation. My college graduation was wonderful, three days of parties with friends, a great dinner with my parents and multiple family members the night before commencement, it meant alot to my parents and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I expect my med school graduation to be another great experience and I am looking forward to having my west coast family come to the east coast, attend commencement and enjoy the sights of a great city. Would not miss it for the world!

 

[searun]

Oh, and in about a quarter of a century or so, when my yet to be born children are graduating from college or grad school, or even, god forbid, law school, I am going to be in the front row, hooting and hollering and taking photos, and taking the whole extended family out to dinner, and buying and drinking expensive wine, laughing, and celebrating my butt off.

 

[ih8biochem]

I am definitely attending my med school graduation. My college graduation was wonderful, three days of parties with friends, a great dinner with my parents and multiple family members the night before commencement, it meant alot to my parents and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I expect my med school graduation to be another great experience and I am looking forward to having my west coast family come to the east coast, attend commencement and enjoy the sights of a great city. Would not miss it for the world!

Finally, someone with a positive attitude. What's with all the "too cool for school" self-righteousness? My family has been the greatest pillar of support throughout this process and for many of them, coming to my graduation will be when they finally have first hand validation from someone other than me. I'm sorry so many of you feel giving the opportunity for your family to feel proud and happy for you is "pointless." Ceremonies have been around since civilization to signal the end of a chapter and the beginning of another.

 

[Ashers]

Finally, someone with a positive attitude. What's with all the "too cool for school" self-righteousness?

Who said anything about self-righteousness? It's more a waste of time and basically for the parents... in my case anyway. It's not like I'm the first person to get an MD in my family, and I won't be the last. It's more about being bored for an evening. Then as a part of the formalities, I go out to a nice dinner with my parents and family friends, which I could do whenever they're in town. I could find so many more things to do to be productive with my time. I have never liked these ceremonies, and they've all been required, except for my college graduation. I don't even like big parties with tons of people around. I prefer small gatherings, without all the pomp and circumstance. Even NHS in high school turned induction into a big deal.

8th grade graduation: I guess it was nice since I had never had a formal graduation before. I don't remember if I had one for 6th grade.
High school was my favorite: I was on the graduation committee organizing things, and my friends and I all had grad parties before I had to leave for the summer. It's all downhill from here.
College: I had 3 separate ceremonies. I skipped the honors college one since my parents weren't in town yet. But I still had my departmental ceremony and the university one as 1 person among 3000 people, and thankfully, our names weren't read out for the entire university, and we didn't have to go up on stage, and our diplomas were mailed to us (The ceremony was totally optional, except from my parents' point of view).
White coat ceremony: people on stage fell asleep during the speaker, and we're expected to be all excited and pay attention? I really needed to be organizing my apartment since I had been busy with orientation for the entire week before.

Now med school, more listening to people blather on, and we're forced to go. You'd think that you could give almost doctors a choice.

No graduation will ever be better than high school or even my siblings' high school graduations, all of which I attended.

If I ever have kids, and they don't want to go to graduation, I won't make them. If they do want to go, I'll go and support them.

 

[bakanoisha]

They are boring as ****, but they are more for your friends, family, and faculty that you've built a relationship with over your time in school, than for you.

Agreed. I'd rather not go, but my wife, parents, etc. would all be super upset.

 

[bakanoisha]

...

You and me are pretty much complete opposites. I hated HS grad and the only one I'm looking forward to is my MD grad because the degree means a lot to me. I'll go to my undergraduate graduation because my family is excited for me. Nobody in my family has gone to college.

In HS I was a very crappy student and graduated from an alternative school which had it's graduation ceremony at a high school I'd never even stepped foot onto. I had super bad grades and was forced to leave my school (for a second time) right before my senior year and go into independent studies. I didn't plan on going b/c (1) I didn't care and (2) I didn't know anybody at the school the ceremony was at. So, I didn't bother to invite any of my friends or family and then my mom gave me this huge guilt trip the day before and I ended up going with just a few family members.

High School Garduation
Anouncer (announcing names):

Joe Schmoe *friends clap/scream: "you go joe!"* etc,

Sally Sue *friends clap/scream: "you're the best sally!"

bakanoisha *crickets... then mom, by herself, at about 1,400,000 decibells "yay, bakanoisha. WOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO. YAY!...*more crickets and odd stares*" OMFG that sucked. But, it makes me laugh my ass of just thinking about it. lol

 

[ih8biochem]

... I could find so many more things to do to be productive with my time.

Dang, really Ash? Like SDN? 🙂 I don't typically find my way here unless I'm really bored. The days following the match have been pretty blah for me. I think I found the end of the internet twice. I feel like graduation is the last productive thing I have left to do, besides packing and finding an apartment that is. Forgot about that.

 

[Ashers]

Dang, really Ash? Like SDN? 🙂 I don't typically find my way here unless I'm really bored. The days following the match have been pretty blah for me. I think I found the end of the internet twice. I feel like graduation is the last productive thing I have left to do, besides packing and finding an apartment that is. Forgot about that.

I did have surgery recently, and it's freaking cold outside, which aggravates my incision. So basically I'm stuck inside, unless I want to go back to taking my pain killers, which I don't.

Oh yeah, and I'm unpacking my apartment inbetween going online.

Edit: btw... my name on here is Ashers... not Ash. Please use it. Plus in May, the weather could be much better, so I could actually go outside and do stuff. And like I said for the White Coat Ceremony... I could've been organizing my apartment after an exhausting week. At graduation, I'd be able to be packing for my vacation while my parents are still here to approve what I'm going to take on a nice cruise.

 

[Kedan]

Finally, someone with a positive attitude. What's with all the "too cool for school" self-righteousness? My family has been the greatest pillar of support throughout this process and for many of them, coming to my graduation will be when they finally have first hand validation from someone other than me. I'm sorry so many of you feel giving the opportunity for your family to feel proud and happy for you is "pointless." Ceremonies have been around since civilization to signal the end of a chapter and the beginning of another.

Well um...I am too cool for school 😉

No but let's be real. Our parents have been happy for us and brimming with pride for a good 4 or 5 years now and if your school is anything like mine they've probably been to a couple ceremonies so far. I just think graduation is a HUGE let down compared to everything else I've done so far. I'm all about the celebration and the memories but the day I got accepted/the first day of school/the day I finally got to the hospital/my final exam ever/etc. - those I'll remember for life. The day I sat under a tent in the hot sun in full length robes and listened to a random pseudo-celebrity tell me how important hard work is (revolutionary, wonder how I managed to get through med school without knowing that) - that I'll forget. Probably as he/she is saying it.

Oh, and just to top it all off. We have to wait on the rest of the campus to have graduation so it actually happens AFTER I start internship. I can just imagine it now, everybody else happy and upbeat while the med students are all sleep deprived and bitter at the world...actually now that I think about it, this might not be too bad.

 

[searun]

Well, whatever floats your boat. But some of us, i.e. me, are not the spawn of generations of physicians for whom the awarding of an MD degree elicits a collective familial yawn. Nobody in my family tree has ever been a doctor, and so they probably accord the MD degree more respect than it actually deserves. But if the ceremony makes my family happy, I certainly am going to enjoy the experience with them. And since they live 3,000 miles from where I attend med school, we don't get together for dinner very often.

It is kind of like weddings. Some people prefer to get married in a civil ceremony at the courthouse that takes 15 minutes, conducted by some bored civil servant who keeps looking at his watch and anticipating his lunch break. Others, want the full meal deal when we get married. Some people love tradition and enjoy celebrating the traditional milestones of life, others want nothing to do with them.

So whatever floats your boat. It is an individual thing.

 

[tncekm]

Edit: btw... my name on here is Ashers... not Ash. Please use it....... And like I said for the White Coat Ceremony... I could've been organizing my apartment after an exhausting week. At graduation, I'd be able to be packing for my vacation while my parents are still here to approve what I'm going to take on a nice cruise.

You sound very offended that someone shortened your name to Ash. I assure it's really not that big of a deal. 😕

And, I'm sorry... but did you just say your parents will be approving what you can take with you on a cruise? 😕

 

[Ashers]

You sound very offended that someone shortened your name to Ash. I assure it's really not that big of a deal. 😕

And, I'm sorry... but did you just say your parents will be approving what you can take with you on a cruise? 😕

I don't like using "Ash" on here.

My parents have a better idea of what's allowed on the cruise. Apparently, there's a dress code.

 

[tncekm]

I see... they're probably referring to the dinners. The dinners are supposed to be formal.

 

[searun]

I don't like using "Ash" on here.

My parents have a better idea of what's allowed on the cruise. Apparently, there's a dress code.

I would die of boredom on a cruise and commencements affect you this way. Just give me a backpack, a few bucks, and turn me loose in central america.

 

[sprinkibrio]

Do you people not have friends? I'm sure none of you are this way, but to me it just sounds ungrateful!

 

[Kedan]

Ungrateful?!? Now we're being melodramatic. What does going to graduation have to do with being grateful? It's just a ceremony, it has no intrinsic value. What it means/represents is entirely up to you. And what does having friends have anything to do with this? You make it sound like people are going to finish med school then go live under a rock. Of course we're celebrating, of course we're going to enjoy time with our friends and family, but none of that requires going to graduation.

 

[Isoprop]

ceremonies are boring. i'd skip my wedding if i could.