I haven’t posted a picture of myself on this website…ever. I am a little private about that when it comes to my website because I’ve always thought of my blog as more of a strictly text-based expression of my identity (and I guess I don’t want people to judge me by how I look too), but here’s to commemorating graduation! ^3^

I decorated my graduation cap 3 days before my actual graduation date. Boy, am I glad I did. Most of my friends did not end up decorating theirs despite their fervid reactions after seeing my decorated cap, simply because they just didn’t have enough time.

2 days before grad was our personal photoshoot. Not done professionally, but we did have an awesome friend who had a professional camera, and the rest of us had digital cameras. :p

1 day before was their Disneyland trip (I didn’t go because of the cost, lol *sweatdrop* can you believe it’s almost $90 just for ONE day if you don’t have any discounts???). The night before graduation I was up all night cleaning and decorating the house for my party, which happened right after my graduation. Haha, so it was an extremely busy few days.

My dad and brother tend to clean the house only when we are expecting company, and my party was going to have 30-40 people (friends, family, parents’ friends), so the house was the cleanest I had ever seen it. !._. It’s usually a mess.

It was an awesome graduation weekend. My family, boyfriend, and friends came to my graduation. Then I had a party right after at my house. We had delicious Korean BBQ short ribs, Vietnamese egg rolls, Viet curry & bread, wine, cheesecake, etc.! I even saw an old friend I hadn’t seen in four years. Although not everyone could make it, a lot of people who were important to me came and I had so much fun. I made a make-shift autograph book for my friends to sign, we played Uno, did Tarot card readings, and played my favorite family game Taboo.

We even had a Nintendo DS Mario Kart & Tetris multiplayer party (I told everyone who owned a DS handheld to bring theirs! we had 5 if I remember correctly) party where I gave out prizes to winners (and non-winners too LOL ^_^). How nerdy but awesome is that??? haha.

It didn’t end there because the next day I attended two other graduations at school to support my other graduating friends (to avoid a 6 hour graduation, we are all separated by majors).

Here is the (edited) note that I wrote about graduation (which I don’t expect you to read! This was written in the spur of the moment to contain my feelings and I’m sticking it here to document it!):

Graduation has left me with such mixed feelings.

I’m so overwhelmingly sad. Many friends are moving back home. I won’t be having class with any of these people ever again. I won’t be having daily shenanigans at school with my boyfriend anymore. My sole responsibility won’t be just going to school anymore – and sitting in comfortable, cushioned seats. I’ve got undergraduate loans to pay off, future loans to pay off, and I’ve got to help my family out financially (my dad has been unemployed for almost a year now).

But despite all of that, I am so glad about the four years that have happened. Going straight to a university after high school was such an expensive route, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Orientation and dorming felt like yesterday. Those 4 years were really important to me. I met friends that are still so very dear to me that I would never have met otherwise. I got to be really acquainted with the campus and the brutal classes. Oh god, the brutal classes as a biology major. haha. There was a time when I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk for graduation in time, and there was even a time when I asked myself if I should switch majors like so many of my former biology major peers have done. But nope, I picked myself back up (along with my GPA) and made it. There were two most memorable times when I thought I was going to break up with my boyfriend, too, but we made it and we’re at 5 years still going strong.

I felt so strangled in high school, and I hated feeling so confined. College really was a different experience, and I’m happy it was one that ended well. The few high school friendships that I DID carry into my college years are extremely special to me, and I’m (pleasantly) surprised that they continued to work out. Still going strong!

Campus quickly felt like home. As with any college, there were some professors that were horrrrrible, but there were also professors that I enjoyed and admired from the bottom of my heart. And our park at school! I had the pleasure of taking a nap in it one sunny and breezy day – felt like a million bucks afterwards. How cool is it that I had to take a stroll through the park every day in order to get to my classes?

I think I get teary-eyed when I think of my lovely friends because along with physical distance and the busy-ness that comes after an undergraduate education, I am worried that I will never see these people again, or at least worried that I will see them so much less than before. It’s part of growing up and having to pick up separate lives, but it’s still hard to take in. However, I do love these people, and hope that they love me just as much so that we really WILL see each other again often, and not just let it be a yes-let’s-keep-in-touch-but-in-reality-we’ll-never-even-call-each-other kind of thing.

Everyone is completely capable of doing what they want to do and being happy in the end. I really do wish the best of luck to each and every one of them.