True stories: how graduation changed my life. Graduation "eternal childhood" History of graduation ceremonies at school

Prom- this is the brightest event that any schoolchild looks forward to, because in addition to saying goodbye to school, on this day he says goodbye to childhood and enters adulthood. Since time immemorial, graduation parties have been held beautifully, solemnly and on a large scale, because every effort was made to ensure that graduates remember such a wonderful day for the rest of their lives.

history of the holiday

Graduations were held during the reign of Peter l. The first graduates were students from the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences in Moscow. The students of the Corps of Pages were inventive in organizing the event. They ordered rings from the masters, on which symbols were applied, which were a specific sign. This sign helped to recognize each other after many years when meeting. It should be noted that the fair sex initially could not attend such a holiday, that is, a kind of discrimination reigned. The appearance of noblewomen at such a holiday became possible only in the 19th century, but going out into the world was a kind of show - parents tried to find gentlemen for their daughters.

The amazing tradition of holding graduations was interrupted in 1917, but already in the 30s it was resumed, but, naturally, there was no trace of the previous scope. Now the fiery speeches of teachers who released schoolchildren into life, whom they remember as first-graders, have become an indispensable attribute, but it should be noted.

Tradition graduation ceremonies was interrupted during the Great Patriotic War. On Saturday June 22, 1941, schoolchildren celebrated their graduation from school. Many of the youths who were dressed in beautiful costumes, and the girls in evening dresses already went to the front in the morning to fight for their country. After the war, graduation parties began to take place as a farewell to a carefree life. A wonderful tradition has emerged: to greet the sunrise with the whole class on the city embankment.

In the 70s, proms suffered another revolution. Instead of beautiful evening dresses, the recently banned miniskirts arrived, bright makeup and chemistry, after all the main objective The goal of the graduates was not to say goodbye to school time beautifully, but to outshine their friends and become the most beautiful. For parents, as a rule, organizing such a holiday cost a lot of money, because in order to organize beautiful holiday they had to spend up to 45 rubles - and at that time this money was simply exorbitant for most families.

In the 90s, it was chic to hold graduation on a boat, which parents rented for graduates. A table was set on deck with a variety of treats, and live music or a collection of favorite songs were chosen as musical accompaniment. The musical accompaniment of the event also underwent a change, because the beautiful waltz was replaced by youth music.

Today, to organize a graduation party for their children, parents no longer spend 45 rubles, but several thousand rubles. Pretty haircut, stylish clothes, shoes, payment for the establishment where the celebration will take place and a limousine that will take the graduates to banquet hall, costs a tidy sum. In addition, it is customary for many schools to give memorable gifts from the entire class at graduation and, as a rule, they also cost quite a bit of money.

How is graduation celebrated today?

Graduation is a kind of reward for students who have graduated from an educational institution and want to celebrate this joyful holiday"on a grand scale."

Today, organizing a graduation ceremony should be approached in advance, because many graduates book institutions six months in advance, pay for the reservation, and therefore, if you do not take care of choosing a place in advance, then you may simply not be able to find it.

Modern youth make great efforts to ensure that their holiday is fun, unconventional and memorable for the rest of their lives, because they perceive graduation from school as a kind of end to their torment, not taking into account that they have an adult life ahead of them, which is by no means carefree.

Many students will have another graduation in their lives to celebrate the completion of their highest academic graduation. It should be noted that not everyone goes to college for one reason or another, so many parents and their beloved children try to organize a creative, large-scale, beautiful, fun and filled with an incredible atmosphere graduation, which will be remembered as one of the best days.

The tradition of holding a graduation ceremony at their home school has already faded into the background, because many graduates choose a cafe, restaurant, night club, which is rented for the whole night or a ship, where you can set a luxurious table on the deck and relax while listening to live music.

The room in which the celebration will take place is customarily decorated beautifully and originally with the help of beautiful arches made of balloons, colors or fabrics. In addition, tables are set, on which, in addition to delicious dishes, sweets and juice, there are also alcoholic drinks.

As vehicle on such a day there are limousines that perform a given route or minibuses in which graduates, parents and teachers can comfortably accommodate.

In most cases, parents and teachers are present at the graduation, but they do not sit at the same table with the graduates, but at a separate table or in different rooms, so as not to embarrass the youth.

To create a fun atmosphere, it is customary to invite a host who will develop the evening program and coordinate it with the main organizer of the evening. The presenter also coordinates all competitions in advance so as not to put students and invited parents and teachers in an awkward position. The highlight of the evening can be a guest star who will perform your favorite youth songs or show program.

It is customary to invite a videographer and photographer to the holiday, who will present holiday photographs and videos that graduates will watch and remember themselves.

The evening usually ends with festive fireworks on the street late in the evening when it is dark outside or by launching burning balls.

There is another option for the development of events, but it is chosen by those graduates who do not like the official parts of the event and prefer to relax without own parents who sometimes do not allow them to spend time the way they would like.

Since the graduation party falls in the summer, very often graduates prefer to rent gazebos in the forest, where they can organize barbecues and delicious table. Some people prefer to rent an apartment, dacha or country houses, where you can relax in company and spend the night in rooms.

There are also classes where students are one big friendly company that prefers to relax away from their parents. Of course, this option to celebrate is quite expensive, but many people prefer to choose it: they go to a warmer place, where they will be able to have fun, swim to their heart's content and visit all the local entertainment venues.

Graduation party is a grandiose and significant event, for which it is customary to prepare in advance. Every person has had this holiday at least once, because the end of school, college or university is marked by a graduation party. And in different countries Graduation celebrations are different and have their own characteristics.

1. How graduation appeared in Russia

Initially, no one celebrated graduations in Russia, since it was not even imagined what scale the celebration of farewell to school life could reach. Peter I was the person who allowed the graduation party to be celebrated. Back at the beginning of the 18th century, graduates of one of the Russian schools had their first prom. A few years later, graduation began to be celebrated in many Russian cities. Interesting fact is that in those days not a single prom was complete without a fight.

2. The first appearance of girls at balls

Previously, girls were not allowed to study at higher educational institutions, and therefore were not present at graduation ceremonies. Only at the beginning of the 19th century were they allowed to celebrate graduation with the boys. But the girls did not appear at the balls in order to receive a diploma of education - parents brought their daughters to graduations in order to find a suitable groom.

3. Dramatic changes in celebration

At the end of the 20th century, tremendous changes began in Russia not only in the education system, but also in the conduct of graduation ceremonies. Then girls could come to the party with a fashionable hairstyle, for example, a perm. Among other things, it was allowed to wear not a fluffy dress, as before, but a short skirt and a not too closed blouse. Graduates could even appear wearing makeup, which looked quite strange in those years.

At the same time, school amateur ensembles began performing at graduation ceremonies, performing their new songs. Proms were quite expensive for parents, but this did not stop young people, because children demanded fun. At such evenings they even began to serve champagne.

4. Grand graduations in America

Prom in America is one of the most anticipated holidays, and on this day, grown-up children try not only to stand out from the crowd, but to look as cool as possible than their peers: while guys rent expensive limousines to impress the fairer sex, The girls themselves choose lush and bright outfits in order to attract the attention of all the guests of the evening and awaken the envy of their classmates. It is noteworthy that alcohol is strictly prohibited at American proms, but young people find ways to circumvent this ban.

5. January graduations in Poland

In Poland, it is customary to have fun at the prom a hundred days before graduation. This day is celebrated around January, so wear Nice dress or the suit becomes problematic, because it’s quite cold. The graduation begins with a polonaise, a Polish formal dance that initially involves the principal and several graduates. Towards evening, the heroes of the occasion make toasts, dance and sing. Alcohol is allowed, but preference is given to champagne, which is combined with sweets.

6. Ball in the morning in Sweden

After finishing school or higher educational institution in Sweden it is also customary to celebrate graduation, but it begins not in the evening, but in the very morning: graduates eat strawberries and drink champagne, after which they begin to prepare for the formal part. There is one more interesting feature graduation celebrations in Sweden: graduates are given white caps with special inserts - anyone can sign them or leave their wishes. Well, after the ceremonial greeting, the graduates go out into the street and throw their caps into the air to say goodbye to childhood forever.

7. Baptism at graduation in Norway

In Norway, they prepare for graduation parties with special responsibility, because this holiday lasts not one day, but seventeen. Graduates prepare costumes and funny business cards for themselves, which they later exchange. After preparing the notes, all graduates come to the place of a certain Baptism, where they meet with their baptists, who say parting words to the children. Among other things, graduates bring their own drinks and try them with the baptists. After such events, graduates go to the city center, where the fun continues.

8. Cleaning up cities after graduation in China

In China, graduation parties are very fun and noisy. Former students having fun and doing whatever they want: they look out of the school windows and throw away objects that are at least somehow connected with the period of study - notebooks, pens, rulers, pencils and other accessories then lie on the streets of cities. It is impossible to envy those people who clean the streets. But since the tradition has existed for a long time, most students are accustomed to cleaning up their own clothes after the fun. school supplies. Perhaps this is one of the most interesting traditions graduation celebrations are on our list!

9. Picnic in France

In France there are practically no proms, because in high school classmates change every year. Sometimes it is allowed to hold a holiday one hundred days before the last exam. Then the students go on a picnic or to a cafe to have a little fun.

10. Boring celebrations in Germany

The Germans have always been distinguished by restraint. And even children don’t have fun after finishing school - there are simply no formal graduation parties in Germany. The evening is limited to the presentation of diplomas and a small performance. So that's why German adults are so serious - they just didn't have fun at their school prom!

11. Beach party in Cuba

Graduation in Cuba begins quite officially - the director issues diplomas and gives a commencement speech. But after the formal part, graduates go to the beach and have fun until the morning.

12. Celebration for parents of a graduate in South Africa

In South Africa, not only graduates, but also their relatives look forward to graduating from school. The whole family comes to the assembly to hear about the achievements of their own children. On this occasion, everyone wears their ethnic costumes to make it more convenient to dance.

13. Australia – who came with what?

Proms in Australia are very funny: the highlight of the evening is the transport in which the graduate will arrive at the ball. But limousines, no matter how luxurious they are, do not impress Australians. A rare convertible, an ambulance or even a plane bus - this is what is worthy of attention!

Different nations have their own customs and traditions of celebrating proms, but they are all united by one story: graduates say goodbye forever to their classmates, teachers, school habits, and enter adulthood.

History of graduation celebrations

Graduation balls in Russia began to be held under Peter I. The first graduates to celebrate the end of their studies on a grand scale were students from the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences in Moscow. Students of the Corps of Pages were particularly inventive when celebrating the holiday: especially for the graduation party, students ordered rings with the same symbol. This allowed pages, graduates different years, get to know each other. By the way, girls were not allowed to attend such evenings at first. The appearance of young noblewomen became possible only in the 19th century. But the “bringing” of girls into the world was an exclusively commercial enterprise - parents looked for gentlemen for young beauties.

After the revolution of 1917, the situation changed dramatically. Proms were banned as bourgeois fun and a relic of the past. But in the mid-30s, school graduations were resumed. Of course, not a trace remained of the former splendor of the outfits and luxury of the halls. Instead, parting speeches became mandatory: cadets and coquettes were replaced by Komsomol members and Komsomol women. But they still couldn’t do without dancing: in addition to classical waltzes, even bourgeois foxtrots and Charlestons were performed.

The tradition of proms was interrupted by the Great Patriotic War. On Saturday evening, June 22, 1941, graduation ceremonies were held in many schools and colleges across the country. Young men and girls waltzed carelessly, and the very next day many of them put on their greatcoats and went to the front. In the post-war years, graduation parties began to resemble modern farewells school life. There was a tradition of walking as a class until dawn.

In the 70s, there was a revolution in attitudes towards graduation. The girls wanted to outshine all their friends: they wore previously forbidden miniskirts, did chemicals and makeup (at that time they had already stopped kicking them out of the ball for wearing cosmetics). For parents, the holiday began to cost a pretty penny. They spent up to 45 rubles on graduation - unrealistic money at that time!

With the opening of the Iron Curtain, the tradition of celebrating the holiday on a grand scale returned to Russia. In the 90s, it was especially chic to meet a new milestone in life on the deck of a pleasure boat rented by your parents. The sounds of the waltz were replaced by the rhythms of modern music.

Today, on prom night, parents no longer spend 45 rubles, but several thousand. A dress, a hairstyle, a restaurant, a limousine - this will not surprise anyone. Graduates book an evening not only in cafes and bars, but also rent entire nightclubs, invite fashionable DJs and all kinds of exotic shows. After all, the main thing is that the graduation ceremony will be remembered for a lifetime!

and the romance of the first steps into adulthood

Outfits from the “bazaar” or “boutique”, unimaginable hairstyles, dawn on the avenue and in the forest, alcohol officially and under the counter – remember graduation different eras…

Magical prom: Cinderella's dress

Evgenia, 37 years, teacher in English :

I remember my graduation because my mother sewed a fairy-tale dress in which I looked like Cinderella at the ball. At that time, we lived quite modestly, and there was no money for exquisite evening dresses. But for literally pennies in the Central Department Store, she purchased gold brocade, from which curtains and capes were usually sewn. In the end, I had an outfit that Yanina Zheimo herself would envy, with a gorgeous rose on the neckline and a fluffy white underskirt. The dress came with size 35 shoes. So they immediately dubbed me Cinderella. But I didn’t meet the prince at that time, I was very modest and shy.

It’s a pity that my outfit lasted only a short time, I wore it again: for my eighteenth birthday.

Source new-rutor.org

Mystical graduation: you can't race Death

Yuri, 45 years, culturologist:

This kind of Mystical stories in different variations are found on the Internet, and they relate to the “box of wishes.” At the graduation party, classmates put in them sheets with predictions of their expected future, but this is not always safe, especially if you approach this process carelessly. Usually such a box opens after 5 years, and what is seen can amaze everyone present. Especially when one of those who wrote is no longer alive. Here is one such story that belongs to the category of “urban legends”.

At graduation, in the midst of the fun, one of the graduates, a cheerful leader named Zhenya, invited his class to write on pieces of paper their desires, who wants to become who, and in the future read their desires and find out who achieved their goal and who did not. Everyone accepted this idea with a bang and began to write down on pieces of paper who wanted to become who. What was written was collected and safely sealed in a box, putting it away, while conveniently forgetting about the treasured box.

5 years have flown by, and the day of the alumni reunion has arrived. The whole class had gathered, except for that very mischievous Zhenya. The fact is that Zhenya got a job as a bodyguard and died, while at work covering the body of the protected object. Again, fun, joy from meeting, memories. And then someone remembered the box with notes. They took out the box, opened it and sorted out the notes - each to their own. All but one. No one had any doubts – it belonged to Zhenya. Since he didn’t tell anyone what he had written that graduation, they hurried to open and read the piece of paper. It was written on it: “And I will no longer be.”

The moral of the story is clear: you cannot race against Death, and you must treat it with due respect.

Tragic graduation: just not to drown and burn alive

Karina, 22 years old, philologist:

I will never forget my graduation! I come from Braslav and my school was located not far from the lake. We celebrated there, in one of the coastal cafes. In the middle of the evening, someone suggested that we cool off and take a walk to the lake, and at the same time take pictures there against the backdrop of the sunset sky. There were about 10 of us gathered on the masonry, apparently, it could not withstand the revelry of the cheerful graduates, the piles tilted - and we all flew into the water. It wasn’t too deep there, but I couldn’t reach the bottom right away and was very scared; everyone sobered up in an instant! The girls' makeup ran and their hairstyles were ruined. We swam ashore and went back wet. In general, we changed into jeans and sweaters, which we took with us to watch the sunrise. So they continued to celebrate. But the “surprises” of the evening did not end there. There was also a barbecue in the courtyard of the cafe, and so one girl was warming up there and when she was already leaving, she turned around unsuccessfully and her tulle cape caught fire and instantly burst into flames. It’s good that my hair, which was heavily sprayed with hairspray, didn’t catch fire.

Comic graduation: when a snack left a mark not only on the road

Galina Vasilievna Bogdanova, 62 years old, pensioner:

I graduated from Babinichskaya high school Vitebsk region. I still remember my graduation, despite the fact that a lot of time has passed. The boys and I were preparing to celebrate it at the home of one of our classmates. We stocked up on moonshine and homemade wine and thought about making it for a snack. And then it was possible to order a calf for slaughter on a collective farm for pennies. And so, as an activist, I, together with the father of my classmate, Uncle Petya, were equipped in a cart to go to the collective farm for veal.

We arrived there and there was such mud that it was impossible to get through. They show us a calf in a fence, and he barely stands on his feet, staggers, it’s clear that he is not healthy. Yes, so dirty! Somehow Uncle Petya took it and put it on the cart.

We are carrying a calf, and he is almost dying, and he is also weakening him all the way. And Uncle Petya says to me: “Put him on the edge and hold him, let him do his business for the road, and not smear my cart.” So we drove on, but behind us there was a trail...

They brought him alive, stabbed him with our folders, and the mothers cooked him. Everyone ate and praised. But I never touched it - I couldn’t forget our whole journey...

Photo boombob.ru

Free-spirited prom: barefoot in the city

Anastasia, 23 years old, pharmacist:

Thinking about my school graduation, I immediately remember that then, according to the rules, graduates were categorically not allowed to leave the territory of the celebration (in my case it was the KIM CDC). Even if you really wanted to leave, this was not allowed, because it was required that your parents would certainly take you away. And, you see, who would go for this in the middle of the night? This seriously affected my freedom-loving nature, so, having agreed with a classmate, sometimes demonstrating fire shows, we snuck out for a walk around the city at night. We didn't go far because we knew what they would be looking for. I wanted to take a break and breathe fresh air and enjoy a wonderful warm night. Therefore, having reached Mayakovsky Square, we kicked off our boring shoes and began to get rid of another indispensable attribute of prom - a carefully styled hairstyle. Thus we enjoyed our freedom and rejoiced with all our hearts in our escape. And, believe me, it was the most fun and pleasant memory of my school prom.

Dreamy Graduation: Unearthing a Mummy in Egypt

Olga, 29 years, teacher primary classes :

We celebrated our graduation party all over the place, in the university cafeteria. And probably the holiday would not have been particularly memorable (an ordinary evening, dancing, tears, alcohol in the bosom), if not for one “but”. Our classroom teacher brought letters that we wrote to ourselves back in 1st grade. It was so unexpectedly nice to receive greetings from the past! It turns out that I wanted to become an archaeologist and dig up mummies in Egypt. Never in my life would I have thought that I had such a dream! Of course, I will never become an archaeologist, but I need to go to Egypt, at least to clear my conscience. Well, it was funny to watch the faces of classmates who read their notes - as if that naive first-grader had woken up in everyone. Thanks to Lyubov Nikolaevna for such a gift!

And finally, a romantic prom: marry a policeman

Olga Nikolaevna Korsakova, 34 years, teacher:

For me, graduation is associated with one of the main events in my life - meeting my future husband. And it was like this. Half of our class and I went to meet the dawn at Three Bayonet. Our guys were a little tipsy, and we girls didn’t even have time to realize anything when a fight started and all four of our guys got into it. We run around, try to calm them down, shout, but we are afraid to separate them. And then two policemen pass by. They took our boys away, they wanted to take them to the police, but we began to ask them to let everyone go, they say, our holiday, graduation, happens once in a lifetime. Then one of the policemen says to me: “Give me, beauty, your phone number and address, then we’ll let our classmates go.” And I liked him right away, and I agreed. We have been married for fifteen years, we have two sons, and we built an apartment in Bilevo. And every summer, when we see graduates in the city, we remember our first acquaintance.

Photo menta-event.ru

Do you remember about your graduation? Send us your stories and we will definitely publish them.

Four frank stories about the main school evening.

Text: Victoria Pavlenko, Yulia Shakirova, Victoria Malyarova, Anastasia Strochilina· June 22, 2018

Vika, 22 years old

It was six years ago, and I still remember every second of this exciting day. Everything went wrong from the very beginning - I overslept. Without having breakfast or even washing my face, I ran as fast as I could to the hairdresser, which, by great luck, I managed to sign up for 2 (!) months before day X. And so I fly into the salon like Superman, shouting “I made it!” and I see... That my master is doing another girl’s hair. When I ask her about WTF in general, she calmly tells me that she thought I wouldn’t come back and decided to take on another client. Then my wonderful mother, thanks to whom I survived this whole event, turns on the dragon mode and practically demolishes the entire salon with her roar (sorry, mom).

Photo tumblr.com

This has a magical effect on everyone, and within 10 minutes I find myself in the chair of another master. She asks: “What do you want?” I speak: " Hollywood curls. Today I am Marilyn Monroe." “OK,” she says and turns me away from the mirror. While she twirls my hair, I think about how the sequins on the chest of my dress will sparkle, and White skirt will flutter in the wind, just like in the well-known scene. I will wave my bouncy curls and smile with my scarlet lips. My blissful thoughts are interrupted by the master’s voice: “That’s it, one is ready, the next one!”

I turn to the mirror and settle into my chair.

“Oh gods, I’m a poodle. No, Shaun the Sheep. But no, it’s still a poodle. Just like Artaud, like Kuprin.” I myself don’t notice how a stingy and very salty tear is running down my cheek, and my mother pulls me by the hand with the words: “Well, it’s okay, in 10 years you won’t remember.” Then the road to the house is like a fog. To be clear, I was riding on a trolleybus wearing my grandfather’s baseball cap. And still I caught sidelong glances at myself. When I walked home, I was accosted by my overly punctual dad in a tuxedo and Boss Bottled from Hugo Boss. With the words “Oh, you decided to be a corrugated chip!” (here I start sobbing) and “We’re leaving in 10 minutes, we’re already late” (I’m already sobbing), he leaves to drive the car to the entrance. I frantically get into the dress, according to tradition, I tear off the tights, then the second one, then I decide that it was not in vain that I shaved my legs with a razor for 1000 rubles, and confidently go to put on makeup with bare legs.

Photo tumblr.com

Dad calls and says displeasedly that he’s already waiting an extra 5 minutes. Mom grabs me in one hand, my makeup bag in the other, and forcibly drags me down the stairs. I get overwhelmed, TP syndrome kicks in (a typical paranoid person, actually, not what you think), I shout something from the series “I’m not going anywhere!”, “I’ll stay at home!”, “Everyone will point at me.” poke”, “Why do I need all this?!”, “Why am I so ugly?!”. Since we lived on the 5th floor of a building without an elevator, and I ran out of anguished phrases already on the third, I had to repeat the same thing two more times. At the entrance, my dad looked me up and down like, “Girls are always senseless and merciless,” and put me in the car. I had to put on my makeup in the 10 minutes that separated our home and my school. And everything would be fine if I: a) knew how to put on makeup, b) there weren’t 100,500 lying policemen on the road. But these two things provided me with a look a la “Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman before meeting Richard Gere.” Well, with my curls it looked quite convincing. I walked into the school doors with my head held high and a wet napkin on my face, with which my mother carefully wiped off my red lipstick, smeared on my cheeks and chin. And then I saw my friends. And you know, just like in the film, everything around lit up with a warm heavenly glow. I realized that I was home. Well, what else can you call a place where you are loved and happy to see you, even when you are the Joker panda. We started hugging, joking and taking endless pictures.

My best friend he said that I was always super, and the nasty nervous knot in my stomach immediately untied.

And then everything moved at incredible speed: the presentation of diplomas, the gala dinner, the first stain on the dress, hugs. And then it was disco time. And it was then that the event to which my story is dedicated happened. My first dance for love. Yes, I know what you will say: “Oh, just think, dance. Now, if you kissed..." But this is different. After all, I have not yet had time to confess to you that my greatest school love was... My teacher. And while I doubt he reads the ELLE Girl website, I won't describe it in detail just in case. I will only say that he was very young, aristocratic, pumped up (oh those biceps on his arms!) and simply terribly smart. I’ve been pining for him since the fifth grade (from the very moment when he first entered our class with the words: “Gentlemen, please shut up”).

Photo tumblr.com

Everything was as it should: slow motion, a beam of light and Sarah Connor in the background. And 7 years later, to this same Just One Last Dance, he invited me to a slow dance at my last school disco. Instead of agreeing, I fell on his shoulder. And those three minutes lasted forever. He told me about the importance of the future, the difficulty of choosing a profession, and how he was always fascinated by my writings. But I didn’t listen and just melted, spreading over his shoulder and muscular chest. A thousand pictures per second flashed through my head: here I am graduating from university, and he gives me flowers; and here we stand at the altar and swear to each other eternal love; and now we are at a reunion 10 years after graduation, we have 30 children, and everyone is jealous of us. My dreams were shattered by the voice of the class teacher, who yelled that we were moving out of school to meet the dawn on Sparrow Hills. And then my fairy tale ended. Just like Cinderella: the clock struck midnight, it was necessary to return to reality. I thanked him, kissed him on the cheek and slipped out into the street.

When the sun rose and illuminated Moscow State University, which I so dreamed of enrolling in (and now, by the way, I have already graduated), I realized that a completely different, new and such interesting life awaited me.

And that school really is over. And also that this is the last time I see most of these people who are now giggling strangely and staggering drunkenly. A terrible sentimentality washed over me, and I ran to hug everyone. And then they took us home. We are with best friend They sat on the steps at my entrance for a long time and recalled the most enchanting moments of these 10 years. And when the sleepy neighbors slowly began to creep out to work, we said goodbye and vowed to be friends forever. And we kept our promise - even though we now see each other once every three months at best, we still adore each other.

Photo tumblr.com

I remember my graduation party with a smile and warmth every year when I see smart and elegant people everywhere. handsome boys and girls with graduation ribbons at the end of June. I still remember my beloved teacher, although I have not seen him since then. They say he went bald, got fat and got married. Well, even so, in my memory he is forever lonely, young and beautiful. And gallantly extends his hand to me, inviting me to dance.

Yulia, 22 years old

Graduation is the main event of the entire school period. It does not suddenly burst into our lives: we wait for it, prepare, and anticipate it. Every girl, literally from the first grade, dreams of a ball, of a magnificent dress, of admiring glances directed at her, dreams of turning into a crowned lady at least for one evening. Everyone is happy and at the same time sad - after all, graduation is not only a bright, but also a sad holiday. But not for me! Graduation evening for me was not just a bright holiday, it was the brightest holiday in my entire school life! Ask why? Because in 11 years I changed 4 schools, and relationships with classmates did not work out very well. Because I was not afraid to leave the past and boldly step towards the future, just like now!

I dreamed of leaving school life behind me, and graduation was a great way to end it.

Preparing for the prom did not take me a lot of time and nerve cells, since I thought through my look in advance, which included a beautiful powder-colored floor-length dress and the most uncomfortable in the world, but incredibly chic shoes. On day X, when the beauty stylist worked his magic on my hair and make-up, when I was running out of the house all dressed up, I heard my mother’s loud “Stop!” “Yul, please take your ballet shoes with you. Believe me, you will need them." What?! Ballet shoes?! How I didn’t want to spoil the look with ballet flats, and even the bag in which I had to carry them. Then I decided for myself that I was strong and would never take off my heels! Oh, how wrong I was then...

Photo tumblr.com

The presentation of certificates is completed, the last group photo is taken, and now the most awaited moment has come for me - we are going to the club! We celebrated our graduation together with several other schools in the B1 Maximum club, now Yotaspace. What could be better than a concert club to celebrate the end of school?! :) Upon arrival at the club, I thought that I would immediately find myself in the hall, but that was not the case! We had to wait in a long line to get inside. It was at these moments that the ballet flats that were in my bag began to attract me, but I heroically stood in heels all this time! Once inside, I acted like a hero for about an hour until I realized that it would be easier to “rock the dance floor” in ballet shoes. When I finally changed my shoes, there was only one thought in my head: “OMG! Mom, thank you!” And after that I could calmly rock out with everyone to the track “From the Window” by Noise Ms, while the girls were in “the most uncomfortable in the world, but to the point of madness” chic shoes"Sat with sour faces at the table. I will never forget my graduation.

The realization that everything was left behind, and incredible changes in life lay ahead, excited me throughout the graduation party!

My heart demanded a change! And despite the fact that during the whole night of the prom I still “killed” my legs, stained my dress (sitting on the sofa where someone forgot a chocolate cake), ruined an expensive clutch by pouring champagne on it, I had a great time and forever told the school “Bye, Bye.”

Photo tumblr.com

Conclusion: Prom is the day when you have every right have fun with your classmates without receiving a reprimand from the class teacher. And so that nothing disturbs you, take with you a change of shoes in which you will spend the whole night and see the dawn. Try to enjoy this day to the maximum, because you will remember it for the rest of your life.

P.S. And listen to your mom, she definitely won’t give you bad advice ;)

Lisa, 21 years old

I was in love with my classmate for three years. We practically didn’t communicate, only sometimes looking at each other during recess. I was sad at the thought that school would end and I wouldn’t talk to my love. Like all girls, I hoped that something would happen at graduation that would change my life. And I was not mistaken.