To Commence or Not: The Graduation I Almost Skipped
April 22, 2025 · Graduation · Reflection
Why I wrestled with whether to attend commencement — the costs, the expectations, and the anticlimax of it all.
There’s a moment, in every final semester, when someone asks: “Are you walking?”
They mean commencement. The ceremony. The procession in a rented robe. The hour-long speech from someone who probably won’t remember your name, your major, or what it feels like to have paid $200 for one day’s worth of ceremonial polyester.
I hesitated.
The Weight of Indifference
I wasn’t excited. Not because I didn’t care about graduating — but because I had already mentally moved on.
This year’s speaker? A perfectly respectable figure — but last year we had Vint Cerf. A literal architect of the internet. A living piece of history. That felt like a milestone. This year? It feels like we’re closing a ticket in Jira.
Last year’s graduation was stacked. This year felt… procedural.
$200 for Closure
Let’s talk about the regalia.
$200 for a robe and a cap I’d wear once, for photos I probably wouldn’t post.
$200 to stand in line, walk across a stage, and maybe hear my name mispronounced in front of a stadium of people who didn’t know me.
You know what else $200 buys? Groceries. A weekend trip. Sanity.
It’s Supposed to Feel Like Relief
Everyone says commencement is “for closure.” A symbolic ending. A mental relief.
But for me, the relief came earlier — when the last final was submitted, or when the thesis was approved, or maybe just the day I stopped checking Canvas.
The robe doesn’t give you closure. It decorates the moment. If the moment isn’t meaningful to you already, no ceremony can force it to be.
Why I Might Still Go
So why go at all?
Because people who love you might want to see it. Because sometimes we mark moments not for ourselves, but for the people who helped us get there. Because even if it feels anticlimactic, you might want the photo anyway.
Maybe that’s enough.
Or maybe it isn’t.
Whatever I decide, I’ve already graduated in the ways that matter to me. The rest is just regalia.