Why I am Not Going to my Graduation Ceremony

 

On June 22, 2023, it is the day of my graduation convocation ceremony that will be held in Winspear Centre located in Downtown Edmonton. It took a lot of time for me to decide whether if I am going to the ceremony or not and I was talking about it to numerous people. I had a talk with my cousins because my first decision and what I told them is that I do not want to go and they told me that I should go and to get extra tickets for them since they want to come there. I told them I am going to think about it. 

I also mentioned this to some of my co-workers/friends and they told me I might miss out in this monumental moment of my life and I was thinking about that as well but then I remember my high school prom and how I went thru with it just because I was afraid I might miss out in the experience but then in hindsight, I should not probably go there because it was nothing special. Yes, I get to dress up but then that was it. A factor of my decision on not going to my convocation ceremony is that I didn’t have friend group in my program that I can celebrate with. If I have that kind of group like what I have back home, I would probably go since atleast I have someone to talk with and share the experience. Another factor is that my parents, especially my mom is not here and I didn’t want to go just because of that. I think that was the main reason why I do not want to go there because all of my graduation she was there and I wanna share that experience with her so it doesn’t make sense that I would go if she’s not here. 

I already talk to her about not going to my graduation ceremony and she said the same thing about what others are saying like I might miss out with the experience but she told me it is my decision and she is going to support it no matter what. I am grateful with the response because I do not want to argue with her about this and I know she understands my reason. One of my cousin shared that because another one of our cousin didn’t go to their ceremony either and my aunt was kinda disappointed with that but our situation is different because my aunt is here in Edmonton and can go whenever she wants but my mom is not here and she still does not have her visa so we do not have any choice. I also had a conversation with this matter with my aunt she also understand it. I was afraid that she would want to go to the ceremony just because she is already here when she was not to because her vacation was supposed to last for three months and was cut off in the middle of it because our grandmother (her aunt) got really sick and had to go back here in Canada early.

Anyway, that was my reasoning behind not going to the ceremony. I might regret this in the future but then I taught about it for a long time before making my final decision. I do not think I would regret it but I still have a chance for another ceremony if I continue on my plans to get a degree here in Canada. Hopefully at that time I already have a set of friends who would go with me and my parents can be here with me to celebrate that milestone.

Thank you for reading this post

Roiji, 23

2023