This is my narrative essay entry for my journal in Communication 1 class. I didn't have any other thing in my mind to write about other than this. This day is just too special to forget.
P.S. This is a narrative essay derived from an anti-chronological essay. This explains why I started my narration from the last part and ended the essay during the first part of my story. Nevertheless, I loved writing this. Didn't even seem like work. I hope you enjoy reading as well. :)
A smile forms in my face when I hear thundering applauses as
I take big steps up the stage. I shake hands with the big bosses in the
university as I receive my diploma and awards. I squint as the spotlight turns
to the stage, and hardly seeing anyone because of the light, I beamed at the
audience and took a bow.
What a beautiful sight it was seeing all of my batch mates
next to me feeling so accomplished wearing their dark blue togas and graduation
caps signaling our high school graduation ceremonies. We all took our place on
stage to sing our 3-day-practiced graduation song not minding the fact that
only a few of us memorized the song. With head held high we started on with
serenading the audience.
Tears were then shed, as we sang to the chorus of “Do I Make
You Proud” by Taylor Hicks. As I look around, only then have I realized how
that would be the last time I will stand up in front of those people in an
institution I had the privilege to have been with for a decade of my existence. My mentors, the
administration, and the parents’ reaction as we went near them to place kisses
on their cheeks and enclose them in warm hugs were beyond priceless. Silence
ensued around the gymnasium as only sounds of sniffs and coughs were heard
around.
After all our puffy eyes, pink noses, and huge smiles were
captured through the posterity pictures, we then marched in a straight line
away from the stage much like resembling concretely our exit from our alma
mater. The atmosphere went immediately
emotional and another thundering applause dedicated for us, graduates, had ensued
with proud faces all on us.
What a giddy feeling I had that very day, the day when all
the burdens of high school life have been lifted in the most beautiful way. Before
this very momentous occasion in our secondary life had come about, many were
then on the verge of anxiousness as the final list of graduates were not yet
posted in that bulletin board near the admin office. Final exams had been finished
and the only thing left to do was for the deliberation of who would march down
that aisle in the gymnasium.
We got the chance to breathe and de-stress on the first few
weeks of March. It was a happy thought going to school without the sight of
math equations on the blackboard, having to prepare or even cram for a quiz in
physics, and having to practice for a stage play in English. These last few
weeks were made available for us to share our last days and cherish our last moments,
still frequently fretful of knowing if one could graduate or not.
For four consecutive days we had gone to each of our
classmates’ homes to maximize our times together and to make use of the
remaining days. Boisterous laughter would be heard in each home visit, and a
lot of secrets shared as the sun went down. Those nights had been truly
embedded in each of our hearts and will serve as one of the best times we had
been able to be a part of.
Graduation practices had officially started and all of us
felt that this was really it. Even if our practices were so time consuming and
we did nothing but go over the program, during each cycle of practice, all of
us disregarded the fact that it was just a rehearsal. Each of us owned the
moment we had on stage, frequently gazing at empty seats where our parents
would sit on that special day and flashing our best smiles towards that
direction.
The sound of each of our name being announced one by one
over the microphone heard in speakers around the gym to practice receiving each
of our diplomas had us feeling nostalgic. Thoughts of all my all-nighters, all
the times I ran out of ideas, all the times I failed in tasks, all the times I
had piled up home works and assignments, all the times I had not finished
studying for an exam, and all the times I had failed to believe that I can do
it—thoughts of all of these dawned on me all of a sudden. And through those
thoughts I had known the true reason for commencement exercises. It is one way
to give honor to that one special tree that remains standing despite the chaos
of the storm, and this special tree represents the graduates.
At last, the night of all the nights had come. With sweaty
palms and anxious faces we waited for the announcements of the list of
graduates. “For this school year 2014-2015, fourth year students of both
section A and B are going to graduate.” That was it. That one sentence we had
all been wanting to hear ever since we stepped foot in high school. We all
jumped from our seats screaming—even squealing at the top of our lungs,
clapping hands and hugging each other.
Even before all of this had come about, on the first day of
senior year we had been tasked to make classroom rules. The best one yet was
rule number 17. That rule stated that we must all, under any circumstance, graduate
together. Due to the nature of being teenagers, one for disregarding rules,
sucker for taking risks and just seizing the moment of liberty, rules were very
much overlooked. Yet it was such a blissful thought on the day of the
graduation as I was about to put on my dark blue toga and place my cap on my
head, looking at the mirror, only then have I realized that there was always
this one rule we never had broken. The fulfillment of rule number 17 left me
smiling at my own reflection at the mirror and before another tear would fall down
my face, I headed to school to take part in one of the best days of my life.
