Documenting "the End": Part Four

Saturday was one of the best days ever. Graduation was finally here. I got up, did a few errands, spent upwards of three hours decorating my graduation cap, and went out with my parents for lunch at a Korean restaurant, since we didn't think to make reservations for dinner. We try to eat light for dinner so lunch suits us even better, actually.

At four o'clock, Kerry and I drove to the high school, where we met all of our other about-to-be graduates in the lobby. We took a bunch of photos, of course, and then were lined up for the ceremony. I was in a three-person row although there are usually only pairs that walk together. However, since I was the last person in our class in terms of alphabetical order, there was one extra seat next to me that didn't match up, so Ivan Truong didn't have a partner. Thus, they thought three would be better than a pair and then a single.

After inching slowly forward towards the turf, we walked down the steps of the building and out to the field, where chairs were set up for us and the bleachers were already packed with people. A light processional music was playing from the orchestra, and I tried very hard throughout the entire thing to keep my cap on properly (it was way too big for my head and didn't fit right, even after my mom sewed a large part of it together) and succeeded for most of the ceremony until I shook everyone's hands after receiving my diploma and it fell off. What can you do...

We listened to all of the speeches as the blazing hot sun beat down on us. I was feeling very thirsty, but still extremely happy and blissful. Our class president and my good friend Mia Natale spoke, we had the salutatorian and valedictorian (Mark Schoen and Steven Homberg) speak, our principal Brian Callaghan made some wonderfully insightful remarks as well, and I think the Westborough superintendent Marianne O'Connor also spoke.

We also had an entire listing of scholarships given out to students, which took a very large chunk of time and left everyone very bored and antsy. No matter which angle you look at it, going through each person's scholarships in a random order (when over half the class has received some sort of scholarship) is really just a bad idea. It took forever.

Then, the part we were really waiting for: receiving those diplomas! Our row, of course, waited until the very end, and it was so exciting to finally hear my name called. Sure, my cap fell off while I was walking back to my seat, and sure, I must have looked like an idiot. But it was still a great moment and I was so happy.

Afterwards, we all walked towards the end of the field, and threw our caps in the air together in the traditional, high school manner. We made itttt!!!!

Then, all of the parents and family members and friends and teachers crowded onto the field to congratulate us and take more photos, naturally. It was hard to find my parents, but when I did, we met a lot of friends and family and happily said hello. What a surreal moment, to reach this day with all of my friends that I'd met in the first days of my freshman year.

We went home after many more hugs and photos and whatnot, and I uploaded photos, took a quick nap, and changed before heading out again for Project Grad! It was going to be at Teamworks and the theme of the night would be "Boston, You're My Home". My parents had helped out earlier that day with set-up and they claimed that it would be suuuuper awesome. I didn't doubt it!

I picked up Kerry and off we went for the night. We got there around 10:30 pm and it was incredible...the decorations were amazing and so well-done. They had made little areas that were labeled as different places in Boston, like Fenway, the top of the Hub, Quincy Market, etc. The food options were incredible and included JP's wings, mini Regatta sandwiches, bread and dip from Not Your Average Joe's, pasta, pizza, fruit, cookies, an ice cream sundae bar, all sorts of drinks, chips and salsa, and much much more.

Our senior posters were hung downstairs around one of the soccer fields, and we were able to check stuff in and receive this huge Rangers bag (that will be very handy for laundry soon in college) to put it all in. Our baby photos were also hung up, with our senior photos underneath them.

There was a photo booth area, karaoke, soccer, VOLLEYBALL, games, airbrush tattoos, mini golf, and an entire area with moon bounces, hamster balls, and inflatable fun. One of the best activities was called Wrecking Ball, and it was this construction zone-themed inflatable game where a wrecking ball was centered between four large platforms. You had to balance on the platform and try to stay standing while other people flung the ball at you. Easier said than done, but it was a superb game.

One of my fave parts of the night was playing volleyball with my senior girls after such a long time. We played against a bunch of jocks and won (duh..), and it was crazy to think that this would likely be the very last time the twelve of us would stand on a court together to whoop some ass.

We also had Dan Candell come around 3:45. He was the hypnotist that did the Hypnotist show in the winter time, and much to our disappointment, did basically the SAME show this time around, just with a different group of seniors. It was pretty redundant and boring, so we were all pretty unhappy with that.

Other than that, I'd say the night was awesome and super fun. It was really the last time we'd all hang out as a class, and I thought it was the perfect way to end things. They wouldn't let us out until 5 am, so we actually waited for 10 minutes in the lobby (cramped and beginning to feel the exhaustion) until we could leave. They handed out bagged breakfasts (donuts, bagels, etc.) and I drove us (me and Kerry) home. Whew. What a crazy few hours.

The family (minus Jason...we need to Photoshop him in)

Walking to our seats

Sofia and I after we graduated, with Mama Zhang accidentally photobombing!

In the lobby with my girls, about to get those diplomas

Documenting "the End": Part One

Well, I've definitely been holding off on this post because I've been booked up to my neck in activities, events, and other things these past few weeks. However, there was no way I wasn't going to blog about finishing my high school career and getting that lovely little diploma! It still feels surreal, but it sure feels good to be DONE.

For me, the start of senior week was May 31st, when we had Senior Ball at the Top of the Hub at the Prudential Center in Boston. (Crazy classy, am I right??)

That Saturday was an absolute HAUL for me, in that it was ridiculously tiring. I woke up around 4 am to start prepping my hair and make-up for that night.

JOKES! Can you imagine? Hah. No way- I was getting up to drive all the way to New Hampshire/Amesbury, MA to volunteer with HOBY (Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership, a group I am part of) at the Warrior Dash! I had always been super interested in doing the Warrior Dash and thought it would be fun to help out and see how the event was run. Although the only shift I could do was from 6:30 am to 1 pm, I really wanted to be there. I had Senior Ball at 4, but I should be able to have enough time.

I drove about an hour and a half both ways to get there and spent the day at the Check-In Tent with a bunch of other HOBY-ites. We were in charge of checking people in (big surprise there!) by using these electronic lists on iPads to find the participant's name, race time, and t-shirt size. From there, they had to sign a waiver with their finger on the iPad surface, while we gave them their bib, t-shirt, and complementary Warrior Dash fuzzy helmet. If you're uber-jealous that they got helmets, don't worry. You're not alone....at all.

I actually had a woman give me hers back because "she didn't want it". Lady, I don't know what kind of things you've been smoking, but thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me keep one of these helmets. My day was made right there.

After a very long shift with huge lines of agitated participants shoving their IDs at my face and quick bites of my Panera sandwich and drinks of water, I said goodbye to the volunteers and rushed back to Westborough for an exciting night in Boston. I booked it home; it's supposed to take around 2 hours to get from Point A to Point B, but I did it in about an hour and a half...let's just say I was lucky no policemen were around.

I quickly got ready and threw on my dress (a dress I've had since 8th grade and just haven't worn all high school). Then, Kerry came to pick me up and we drove off to the upper field at the high school, where we'd be meeting as a class to leave. Photos were taken (yay!), a large group photo of the grade was attempted (boo..), and after waiting a very long time on the coach buses, we were finally Boston-bound!

The buses dropped us off at the main entrance of the building, which meant that we were gawked at as we trooped to the elevators in heels, suits, and whatnot. It was simultaneously funny, awkward, and strange. From there, we went up to the 50th floor in groups on the elevators. We finally made it...and the view had totally been worth waiting for!

It was gorgeous up there on the Skywalk (Exactly how I remembered it when I brought a friend from Mexico up there freshman year), there was a dance floor in one corner, and various dinner tables set up for us. We took a lot of laps around the floor, just admiring where we were and also checking to see when the food would be put out.

Our class president and my good friend, Mia, had promised us a delicious meal and had posted the menu on Facebook earlier, so I knew we were in for some amazing things like duck, lobster, ravioli, a crepe bar, steak, pasta, salad, mini sliders, etc. etc. etc. Thankfully, the table that I was sitting at with my friends was called rather early, so we were able to get everything we wanted to before it was all gone or a looooong line had formed. Some of my other friends weren't so lucky; they were called later, and only got to eat the salad that night, since everything else had been taken. Must have been such a disappointment.

After eating, we did some more socializing and some dancing, but also waited a long time in line for the crepes. The rest of the night was spent taking photos and dancing on the cute little dance floor with friends. All in all, it was an amazing time. Super unreal, since we had all been looking forward to it since the beginning of senior year, and also bittersweet.

We went back down in the elevators to our buses that were waiting outside, but since Callaghan (our principal) was on our bus, we had to wait much longer than everyone else for him to finish making arrangements. I took a few naps on the way home (I was completely exhausted), and then joined my friends to change into comfier clothes and hang out afterwards, which was pretty fun as well.

In the end, I got home around 2 and proceeded to sleep right away. It had been an amazing day, and a great way to kick off senior events!

Selfies with Hannah and Mia

The gorgeous sunset on the river

Jackie and I waiting for an elevator

The awesome view once again

With Brianna on the upper field

There was a ball game going on Fenway Pahhhhk