Graduation is tomorrow! On the way home from rehearsal today, we were all wondering how it got to be so soon. Not next year, not in the summer, not two weeks, but tomorrow. And tomorrow, it'll be today. Hmm.
We two rehearsals for graduation, one yesterday, and one today, along with the senior picnic. Yesterday, we got started about an hour late. Really, is it that hard to put folding chairs in the gym ahead of time? I know, five hundred chairs is a lot, but still. They didn't have a concrete seating plan, so I was stuck in the back with the other W's. I was in row Y! There was only one row behind me. That's depressing. The curse of the W gets to you after a while.
We spent most of the morning going over the procedure, asking last-minute questions, and practicing the processional. We did it... three times, I think. We were all sitting in order, so we marched out and waited in the small gym to march back in. At our school, the boys wear black robes, and the girls wear gold, so we're separated by gender in the seating arrangement. We were standing in the small gym, waiting for the sponsors to start us marching back, when someone from the boys' side threw something to the girls' side. A few more things went that way. Then one of the girls threw something back.
Then, one of the boys threw a water cooler. You know, one of those jugs they put on top of the faucet part of water coolers. It hit one of the girls, Ava (I think she was in my English class last year). Some of our class is just so
stupid. It can't hurt that much to be obedient and still for a few hours. Eventually, the admins heard the commotion and just herded us back into the gym, out of formation. After the appropriate dressing-down, we marched again. That time, we got it right.
They passed out medallions (which I won't be wearing; I have a special one for top 5%), copies of the... I guess you could call it the composite class picture, and free t-shirts with all the seniors' names on the back. The shirts are cute. I would have bought one of the shirts from Class Day, but now I'm glad I didn't. Free is always good. We got our cap-and-gown packages, then went out to the bleachers to take the panoramic picture. It took forever to get everyone organized, and I wound up in the impromptu line in the very front, and I think there are snags in my gown now. Some people didn't even stay for the picture, so I'm glad I didn't buy it.
Rehearsal ended around 1:00. Greg and I went back to his house, then Gonzo gave us and David a ride to Ian's house. Despite being out until 11:30 last night, I had a pretty good time. They played GameCube first. I'm getting slightly better at being Greg's partner on Mario Kart: Double Dash, but since I never play video games, I still suck. They don't rub it in, though, which is nice. I can't say I'd do the same. While they played Magic, Ian's mom let me use her laptop. I read a bunch of short fics on FictionAlley -- it's been over six months since I was last there, and that wasn't even a real visit. I used to go there
all the time.
I was going to play a board game when they finally switched (something about dungeons), but it was so complicated, I just gave up. Then, they brought out Monopoly. I've seen those guys play before. They play mean. I'm too nice for their version. I stayed out. Vicki, Ian's mom, and I played Quiddler instead. (I'm re-reading
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix right now, so Quiddler kept sounding like a combination of "Quidditch" and "Quibbler".) Ian's mom described Quiddler as a combination of Scrabble and Gin, but I never play Gin, so I kept forgetting to discard a card. She helped me, though. I had so many qu's and z's, and I was tired from getting up early for rehearsal. Lethargy and bleary eyes seriously impair my vocabulary. I did pull off "puce" and "aa", though. ("Aa" is a word. Something about Hawaiian lava. It's in the dictionary, so it counts.) I lost, but I was only 30 points behind second place. Vicki had this awesome hand. At first, she had about five vowels left over, but you lose points for any leftover letters, so she rearranged hers until she only had one leftover vowel. As it turns out, she usually wins that game.
Today, I got up, quite tired, and got another ride to school from Stephanie. Mindy's still being repaired. When I finally do get her back, she won't be driven much, and then I can't take her to school in August. I hope I don't forget how to drive. This time, there were no mishaps. There was a small fight, but it was resolved quickly enough. I am in the top 5% of my class (top eleven people), and my cumulative GPA is over 4.0, so I will be in the Row of Honor, on the stage during graduation. Only fifteen people are up there, so I feel special. I also feel like a nerd, but that's nothing new. They reorganized the seating to fill gaps and separate the Row of Honor today. There are still seven more rows of girls than boys, though. I think girls are slightly more common than boys statistically. Everyone else practiced marching again. I don't think anything went wrong this time, as there was no lecture. We were told that the Row of Honor will enter first, before the rest of the class. Being the last person alphabetically on the Row, I might have to walk in first, behind the ROTC escort. That is not good. Much potential for tripping and being incredibly embarrassed in front of my class, my family, and a few thousand other guests. A few more reminders, and we were turned loose until tomorrow afternoon.
After rehearsal we had the Senior Picnic. Last year, 03's picnic was at Six Flags. Ours was on the football field. Yep. We had to wait a while for food. It wasn't terrible, though the baked beans totally burned my tongue. I usually burn it on hot chocolate, but the feeling is definitely not new. My taste buds will feel normal again a day or two. Greg left with his friends to hang out at someone's house, so I was lonely at first. Then I caught up with Megan, Stephanie, and Choi. We played Twister with a bunch of other people on this inflatable board. Like MoonBounce Twister. I'm tall, so I can reach far-away spaces, but I have zero flexibility, so I fell pretty early during the rounds. I had
so much fun, though. We left around 2:00. I put on sunscreen this morning, but it must have worn off. I think I tanned worse on top of my arms. I must be five or six shades of brown by now. I need to go swimming and even it out all at once. After that first swimming trip, I get as toasty as possible and fade from there.
After we left the picnic, I tried to get a guest pass to give my transcript envelope to guidance. The lady at the sign-in desk wouldn't let me in, though. I didn't feel like dealing with her rude attitude, so I just left. I should have kept walking past the desk. On the day of the AP Lit test, I went in and out of school without anyone saying a word to me. Our security is so incredibly lax. I went with Megan, Steph, and Choi while Megan returned some supplies she'd borrowed from Mr. Mrad for her RP project. Then Steph dropped me off. I watched some MTV and took a nap. I miss work, but only because it's how I'm making money this summer. Otherwise, I like having free time.
I have to submit my financial aid info to UMD today. In other words, I have to request a large loan for me and an even larger loan for my parents. And that's just for this year. I swear, I'm going on
Jeopardy! and paying off my loans in one fell swoop. Just watch me.
