Essay #1

I woke up the day of graduation feeling nervous and excited about the big day. I woke up, had breakfast, got a hair cut, took a shower and got dressed in black pants, a white button shirt with a black tie and headed to the Channel Island Gymnasium by eleven a.m. On the ride to the gym I was getting more nervous. Once I arrived, the nervousness sort of went away because I saw my friends and I felt more comfortable. When my friends and I walked into the gym we saw it was full of girls with their yellow caps and gowns and the boys with their blue caps and gowns.

            The time came where we had to line up in order so we could receive the correct diploma. I was in line with my cousin Alan Torres, so we were together during the entire graduation process. It felt good having him there because I and he always have a good time joking around with each other. And to my right was my friend Victor Uribe.  Although we always have a good time, I got impatient since we almost the last ones in line to receive our diploma.

            As the entire 2011 class was lined up, we started screaming “I wanna be a CI Raider, I wanna live a life of danger, Everywhere we go,  People wanna know, Who we are, So we tell them, We stomp on you like we stomp on grass, CI Raiders gonna kick your ass” which is the school chant; we screamed that for a long time until it was time to make our way to the Ken Benefield the school stadium where the ceremony was going to take place. As we were leaving the gym still screaming, we saw teachers, some were crying as they saw their former students pass. We walked through the halls of our high school for basically the last time. It was sad but also exciting because we could hear the roar of the crowd coming from the stadium.  Once we entered the stadium, the roars of the people got louder and I saw the stadium full of people. When I got to my seat I immediately started looking for my parents. It took me a long time to find them until halfway through the ceremony. Once the speech of the valedictorian finished, I felt like the graduation process actually started because the names of all my peers were finally were being called. As I waited patiently for my name to be called my cousin and I were screaming the names of our friends that were being called. As the time was getting closer for my name to be called, I was getting nervous again. It was finally time for our row to get up and get our names called I was relieved because I was tired of waiting. We were getting closer and closer to the stage; finally my name was called, I got my diploma and I shook Mrs. Hernandez the principal’s hand.  When I got my diploma I felt proud of myself and a felt a sense of accomplishment after those four long years of hard work of high school; also because my dad and older brother had also graduated from Channel Islands High and I felt proud to be the third generation. Once the final people received their diplomas and the ceremony was over and the valedictorian told us “You may now may your tassel from the left side of your cap to the right side.” When he said that we were officially Channel Islands Class of 2011.  Every one immediately threw their cap up in the air out of excitement but I wanted to keep mine so I didn’t throw my cap in the air like my friends around me.

           
            Once it was over and as we were walking out, we were given a rose to give to a person of our choice. We were to walk one final time around the track then go look for our parents out in the stands.  When I finished with walking around the track I started looking for my parents but I couldn’t find them and I couldn’t call them because I didn’t have my phone since the principal didn’t allow use to have it during graduation.  I finally found them after a long twenty minutes or so and was congratulated from my mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, brothers and sister.  I gave the rose to my dad because he helped me a lot throughout all high school. My mom gave me balloons and a teddy bear that said “Graduate” while my grandma gave me a necklace of Kit Kats. After all the hugs and all the congratulations we took some pictures and went of to celebrate. My parents took me to eat at a Chinese restaurant Hunan Garden in honor of me graduating.

            Life after graduating wasn’t much different to me until college started. I realized that I was in the real world of paying for classes, books and gas. I gained a lot of independence and responsibility after high school like going out of the country without my parents for the first time and also having to pay all of my expenses on my trip, also learning how to drive and working as a soccer referee for the local league here in Oxnard . June 10, 2011 was the day I graduated from Channel Islands High School at the age at seventeen and it was a day that changed my life. In some ways that my life changed was that I wasn’t going to see my friends since they were going to begin their own lives after high school as well. Graduating made me understand that I was moving on to the real world of being responsible, independent, and a lot of hard working.