Many people choose to not walk at their college graduation.
The reasons vary from "commencement is too long and extremely boring" to "I've already done this once, why do it again?" I do share the idea that commencements can be extremely boring. And, let's be honest, they call your name and then call another in two seconds, you don't really get a 'moment to shine.'
However, despite the reasons NOT to attend commencement, I believe that my reasons TO attend far out-weigh any negative. After all, I don't just walk for me.
I walk for my professors. They have spent the last four years teaching me and molding me into the successful person that I have become. Without them by my side, I wouldn't be wearing this cap and gown. I'll be real, I really didn't care about some of these classes. I hated politics, still do, but my professor actually made it mildly interesting. And whether I liked it or not, she had to be there to teach me anyways. Many of my professors have had to deal with me for the last five or so years every semester. As much as I'm sure they wanted to, none of them ever kicked me out of class or got sick of me. They showed up every day to ensure that I got a quality education.
I walk for you.
I walk for my friends. Yeah, it might seem cheesy discussing the friends that have helped through long nights of studying or read over my papers, but it's true. I have so many classmates that have pushed me in times of struggle and offered assistance when I was just too confused about a problem or assignment. Without my peers there along the way, there's no way I would have made it here.
I walk for you.
I walk for my family. My family has seen me try since day one and they have always been at my back. There is no one truly there for you like your family is. They have pushed me to my fullest potential and believed in all of my dreams. They never once fought me on things that I had my heart set on, and they even shoved me in the direction of the major that I truly wanted to be in versus the one that I knew had a set future. They are the ones who answered my phone calls when I was stressed about a test. They are the ones who were so proud every semester that I made the Dean's List. No matter how stressful things were or how lost I thought I was are during these years, my family had my back.
I walk for you.
Sure, commencement might be long, but not longer than your time spent in college.
Sure, it might be boring, but so were those general education classes.
Sure, you already went through it once, but these professors have gone through it a lot more than you.
So today, I do not walk to celebrate my successes or to show the world that I now have a degree. I walk to show appreciation to all of those who have helped bring me here. To all of those who have crossed my path and studied with me, taught me something new, helped me on an assignment, or simply wished me good luck on a test: