High school graduation is a time to celebrate, both for the graduates and their family members. After all, these are the people who have supported the recent grads throughout their lives, shaping them into the brilliant people they are now. This year, however, participating seniors will be given a limited amount of time to celebrate with their loved ones, due to the small time frame in between graduation and the on-campus six o’clock check-in for Disneyland Grad Nite. This schedule is bound to have a negative effect on all of the Disneyland Grad Nite participants and their relatives, and, in order to ensure a smooth, happy day of celebration, should be rethought for next year.
It has already been confirmed that graduation will begin at two, and it is assumed that it will end within an hour and a half. This schedule does not seem to account for all of the family and friends who will come down onto the football field to congratulate and embrace their newly gradated seniors.
In addition to that, hundreds of photos will be taken, numerous “congratulations,” “I’m going to miss you” ‘s, and, of course, “Can you believe we did it?!” ‘s will be exchanged, which instantly kills 30 minutes to an entire hour. By that time, it will be approximately four in the evening, give or take. This gives seniors and their family members a meager two hours to celebrate together before they have to come back to school and prepare themselves for the long, albeit fun, night ahead. Keeping in mind that those two hours will have to include things like driving to and from school, changing into appropriate attire, and waiting in line for a table at a restaurant, not much can be done in that amount of time. For a day as special as high school graduation, two hours of family time is hardly enough.
According to Senior Class Adviser Michelle Fournier, the Disneyland Grad Nite event will be taking place on the day of graduation for two reasons. One, it is meant to take place of the cancelled UC Grad Nite, and two, students’ parents chose the event date this year, not the teachers. Fournier explained, “Parents who organized this trip wanted it to be the night of graduation, because they not only want the students to look forward to something fun the night of, but also to prevent any tragic accidents that celebrating can lead to.”
The Disneyland Grad Nite set-up has some benefits, according to Fournier, like the fact that there will be no more than 6,000 students there, meaning shorter lines and less crowds for UC students, but it also ruins plans seniors may have made previously. Parents and siblings who are taking the day off of work will either have to enjoy a rushed dinner with their graduate, or take a rain check on that dinner all together. Extended family who were planning on flying in from out-of-town might have to reconsider their plans since, with the current schedule, they’ll barely get to see their graduate the night of their graduation.
Although some may initially think that enough time has been allotted between the two events, Senior Nia Hilton believes that when broken down, two hours is clearly not enough time to enjoy an evening with family. She said, “You have to consider getting to the restaurant, first off, and then incorporate how long the waiting service will take. Then you’ll have to basically rush dinner altogether, go home to change (if needed), and then go back to school. Two hours is just simply not enough time.”
The only solution seems to be to push the time of graduation up by an hour, and that alone could make all the difference. But school officials claim that in order to ensure graduation is organized and smooth, they must remove any remaining underclassmen still on school grounds. However, school ends at 11:34. Does it really take two and a half hours to remove students who are most likely eager to go home and start their summer? It shouldn’t. This schedule will ultimately become an inconvenience for the families and friends who had intended to celebrate a momentous occasion with their graduate. Instead of celebration, however, their day will be spent checking their watches and making hurried small talk. For a time that is meant to be exciting, fun, and, in an ideal world, relaxing, the current Disneyland Grad Nite and graduation ceremony set-up certainly puts a damper on things.