The night before graduation I laid out my cap and gown across my bed and reality finally hit me that I was finally graduating high school. Due to the fact that both of my sisters were teen moms and, only one of my two sisters went onto finishing high school and went on to college. Many in my family expected the same from me, that I would become a teen mom and never finish high school on time. But there I was the day of graduation in my white cap and gown, I had imagined the day of graduation over a hundred times throughout my senior year, but I couldn’t believe it was finally happening. Before the ceremony began my classmates and I got ready in our economic classroom, everyone was in such high spirits. We all showed each other our caps and how we ended up decorating them. All I could hear from my classmates is “we did it !” ” This is it ! the moment is finally here !” and “I just want my diploma and I’m out !”. We were all very excited and anxious to graduate, for senior was a lot of stress. Between the college application process, class assignments and my crazy economics teacher Ms.Bienavides we were more then ready to graduate. As the ceremony began only a hand full of us, including myself, received academic awards and certificate of honors . As my classmates who didn’t receive any kind of award sat in their seats I couldn’t help but feel some what bad. But then I thought everyone is going to be acknowledge once they call our names for when we get our diplomas individually and walk the stage. Just like we had rehearsed over and over again the day before. But to my surprise no ones name was called,as we stood in the rows I saw my classmates simply walking the stage and being handed rolls of paper tied with a ribbon on it without anyone’s name being called. I looked around in disbelief of what was happening. When it came to my turn to walk the stage I waited to be called by my guidance counselor. But all she did was give this rather fake smile and clapped . Eventually my classmates called out ” Dina walk ! you’re holding us up”. As I walked the stage I looked out the audience to my mother, my sister and my cousin clapping and cheering my name. Seeing their reaction and the excitement on their faces made me happy for a brief moment . As I sat down for the rest of the ceremony I couldn’t help but to feel angry, how could they not call our names when we walked up to get our diplomas ? . I found it unfair to my classmates who didn’t receive an award because they weren’t acknowledged at all, it’s like they didn’t even graduate . As the ceremony ended and we were announced the graduating class of 2017. All my classmates and I screamed ” we made it, finally !”. The seats emptied and everyone rushed to find their family and friends for pictures. Though It was a very happy moment, in the back of my mind I couldn’t help but to think what my school did to us wasn’t right . Though I wasn’t surprised due to the fact, that the four years I attended school there my school administrators were always up to sneaky things. Such as changing test grades so that they could get students to graduate, extending due dates on assignments for some students only and allow students to make a whole marking period worth of work by doing one assignment.
Later on that weekend, while at dinner at Sugar Factory that my friends mom treated us too to celebrate . While dogging down my pasta alfredo, my cousin got a text message from a mutual friend from school of ours. My cousin’s jaw quickly dropped in disbelief ” ohhh my god” she said with her mouth full of her bacon cheese burger. I was too busy eating to care until my cousin handed me her phone . On the phone I saw a picture of my graduation ceremony of my principal handing one of my classmates a rolled up piece of paper and shaking their hand. The article said “Principal gives teen who cut class an easy pass”. I soon discovered that the article was meant to expose the wrong doings of my school and them grade fixing grades on students transcripts . In the article it explained how grade fixing has been an issue around most high schools in NYC to help boost a high schools graduation rates. In the article it also explained how my principal allowed for a student to make up work for a class he cut regularly in one sitting in front of computer in a few periods days before graduation. The article went on to talk about our graduation ceremony and the students at my school. And the time my classmates got caught with a group chat sharing other students work. Once I finished reading the article I turned to my cousin and said ” Did we really make it ?”. After reading that article, I lost my appetite I wasn’t hungry anymore. I couldn’t help but feel like my graduation ceremony was all an act because of the way the article drew my school out. The article made it seem like all the students at my school cheated their way to graduate and that wasn’t the case at all, a lot of us worked really hard all senior year to graduate.
