Graduation practice was yesterday at 8:00 in the morning, and when the principal said 8:00, he meant it. He was upset to see that hardly anybody was in this community college auditorium at the stroke of 8:00, but most people were there within a little while, including Mike, who gave me, Yamilee, and my sister a ride.

We practiced the processional, the recessional, and all the other -cessionals. The main issue was finding the order in which we would enter and exit the building. The top 10% of the class were seated in the front row, and the rest were behind us in alphabetical order. After that, they went over the procedures like walking across the stage to get the diploma (actually the diploma holder because they won't give you your diploma till you give your gown back). They also made efforts to pronounce everyone's name correctly.

At the end of the practice, they gave out our yearbooks, which I thought was unusual. In years past, they've sent the yearbook to the presses in the summer so that end-of-year events like prom and graduation could be included. The yearbook would then be distributed at the beginning of the next year. I guess they realize that it would be hard for some people to go back to the school to pick up their yearbook if they're far away in college. I guess it doesn't matter that that stuff isn't in the book. The yearbook is bigger than ever this year, and it's in full color for the first time. That almost makes up for the title: "Tornado Nights: The Ballad of the Golden Tornadoes."

After the practice, I had to stay to practice my salutatorian speech. Rebeca, the valedictorian, had told me that she hadn't finished her speech, so she went to the school to meet with an English teacher to help her write it. Meanwhile, back in this college auditorium, the speech teacher revised the class president's speech, removing references to east Asian immigrants and streaking. (I have no idea what the contexts were.) The principal told her that mentioning east Asian immigrants specifically would be pretty divisive for the audience, and he didn't want to bear the brunt of complaints. Later, he told me that my speech was good. When I delivered it to the empty auditorium, I had it down pretty well.

After that, I went to Clamsters for lunch with Nick, Mark, my sister, and some other people. Then we hung out at Mike's to play airsoft with Mike's brothers' guns. After a while, we had to get back home. We had to be back at the auditorium at 5:45 P.M. for graduation, and I did not want to be late.

We got back to the auditorium in time, and while my sister and I went into the back to meet with our classmates, my parents and grandparents (along with some of my sister's friends) took their seats. I assume that we had to be there at 5:45 so that even the people who were late would still be early; after all, the ceremony was supposed to start at 7:00. But it gave me a lot of time to meet with people and say hello. Since everyone was wearing a gold cap and gown, it was a little hard on the eyes.

Then we had to stand outside and line up for the processional. We were lined up there for what seemed like a really long time. At this time I could see that many of the teachers were there. They were wearing robes with their colleges' colors, and the length of their sleeves indicated their degree. As I was standing there, I couldn't remember the last time I had been that nervous. Mr. Oistacher, a teacher I didn't know very well, told me that UF, my future college, was a great school. The small talk comforted me a little.

We went in, and the valedictorian and I took our seats onstage. After the class president spoke and some important guests were introduced, an assistant principal introduced me. She mentioned The World of Stuff (I told you everyone knew about it) and the Beowulf movies. Anyway, I went up and delivered my speech. I didn't do so badly. The lights were really bright, though. Next the valedictorian spoke, and her speech was really good. When it came time for us to get our diplomas, we walked offstage. Some guys from the JROTC assisted the valedictorian and class president down the steps. Then a JROTC girl walked me down. It was kind of unexpected.

Then we went outside so that we could go onstage from the side. Since I was #2 in the class (that's what the salutatorian is), I graduated second. I got to walk across and shake hands with some people I didn't know. And then there was the picture with the principal handing me my diploma case. After that, I went back to my seat in the front and stood until everyone in the row was there. Then we could sit and watch everyone graduate. There were a lot of people I didn't know at all and had never seen in my life, but many of them I did know. Also, my hat was getting wobbly by that time.

Once everyone had walked the stage, the class president asked everyone to turn their tassels from the left to the right, which is apparently a traditional thing. Then, just before we exited, a couple of girls went up and sang the alma mater. Even though this came as a surprise to many people who didn't know we had an alma mater, and even though some of the lyrics were butchered in the program, and even though nobody really knew the tune except the people who were singing, we sang together anyway.

After exiting, I had to say goodbye and congratulations to as many people as I could recognize. I even saw someone I never would have expected to see: Ms. Bruton, whose Business Systems & Technology class I had first block on the first day of freshman year. She left the school a few years ago, which is why it was surprising to see her. I was so surprised that I can't even remember if I saw her first or if she saw me. I was all, "Ms. Bruton??" It's hard to believe that she was there in the beginning and also at the very end.

I handed in my gown and got to receive my actual diploma. Dr. Shipe gave it to me, and he knew who I was even though I've never had his class. I got to talk with some other people after that, including some underclassmen and graduates from last year who were nice enough to come. Then we went home.