Today I woke up at the crack of dawn... 6:30 a.m.! That is way to early for me, but today I had no choice, it was the best day of my life... graduation! Since our graduation ceremony was at 9 in the morning, all the students had to be there at 8 o'clock, hence the early wake up. With my favorite shoes on and my best friend Erin by my side, I headed off to the Toyota Center with my mother and the Cassani girls! Upon arrival, we met up with some of our best girl and guy friends to snap some pics and then quickly ran in before the ceremony started! I wound up sitting next to Andrea Miller and Eric Nguyen, two of the funniest AP kids I know. We couldn't stop cracking jokes, screaming, and laughing the entire time - graduation was just too crazy! Sitting in my seat staring at the camera in my face was all too real... after four years I was actually at my own graduation! Walking the stage happened much faster than I thought it would. When I used to picture graduation, I imagined my life seeming to go in slow motion, all of my high school life flashing before my eyes. Rather than that, the entire ceremony happened quicker than I could blink. It only seemed about ten minutes until I was tossing my cap in the air celebrating my now official adulthood! After walking out of the building, I made sure to catch up with my besties and find our parents for the traditional post-graduation photoshoot! All dressed up in our fancy dresses and hot shoes, my friends and I definitely caught some precious moments. Post-grad pictures are one of my favorite things to look at every year, and to finally have my own was so amazing! After taking a couple shots, everybody split up to go out to eat with their families, including me! My familia hit up Corner Bakery, one of the most delicious cafes that I've ever eaten at! We didn't have too much time to stay long however, because we needed a power nap before the evening came... when it was time to party!
Erin and I were having a joint graduation party, and twice the graduates means twice the number of attendees! Our food was all homemade by our parents, and all of the decorations (including our fabulous tank tops) were made by Erin and myself! We invited almost 200 of our closest friends and when the party started at 5, we were ready to get wild! The cassani's house was FILLED with kids, teens, and adults, all there to support Erin and I - needless to say we felt very special! The guests got to view our shrine, watch a slideshow of our lives, sign our graduation pictures, and feel the love that Erin and I had for every single one of them! Whether it was family, friends, or somewhat strangers, everyone attending our party played a part in making our day special, and I am so thankful and blessed to have so many amazing people in my life to love and support me in my life journey.
After a couple of hours and before all the guests were even gone, Erin and I had to leave our own party to go to our next big event... PROGRAD! The senior event that we had been waiting for all year (besides graduation itself!) was finally here, and we couldn't wait to get inside and experience it! My friends and I gathered around the door yelling for half an hour to be let in, before the doors finally opened and the craziness began! I ran straight to the spin-and-win, a game that consumed most of my night. It was a guaranteed win game, and every time I won something amazing! I wound up coming home with a coffee machine, toaster oven, floor lamp, cooler, and much more... definitely my favorite game! There were giant inflatable games, a prize walk, a silent auction, giant tricycles, a photo booth, free henna tattoos... more things to do than I could have ever imagined! For five straight hours, I ran wild around the cafeteria having the most fun I could possibly have - and made sure to let everyone know that I was having the time of my life! At three in the morning, all the games were shut down and the craziness was herded into the auditorium for the biggest part of the night... the hypnotism show! Being hypnotized during prograd was something that I had been wanting to do for a long time, so you can bet that I was the first one up on the stage when they called for volunteers! I sat next to one of my best friends Kaitlyn Engle and fell into a world of extreme calmness. I missed out on watching the show and getting to laugh along with my friends in the audience, but I got to be one of the comedians they were laughing at! My fellow contestants and I were told to answer phones in our shoes, picture the audience naked, and even pretend we were watching emotional movies - that one made me burst into real tears! Getting hypnotized was an experience unlike any other, and I would do it again in a heartbeat! After finally "waking up" from our daze, it was sadly the end of prograd, and time for everyone to leave and go home. It was four in the morning so I was in no condition to protest sleep. It had been a long day, but it had easily been the best day of my life. There is no other way that I would have loved to spend my entire last day of childhood than acting like the kid I truly am with the people I grew up with.
This day may mark the end of my blog, the end of high school, and the end of being a kid, but I will always remember my senior year, by far the best year of my entire life. Although my high school chapter has ended, my college chapter is about to begin. After all the crazy times, fun times, and even hard times I've had throughout the year, I wouldn't go back and change a thing. So long high school, and hello world!
Today I woke up at the crack of dawn... 6:30 a.m.! That is way to early for me, but today I had no choice, it was the best day of my life... graduation! Since our graduation ceremony was at 9 in the morning, all the students had to be there at 8 o'clock, hence the early wake up. With my favorite shoes on and my best friend Erin by my side, I headed off to the Toyota Center with my mother and the Cassani girls! Upon arrival, we met up with some of our best girl and guy friends to snap some pics and then quickly ran in before the ceremony started! I wound up sitting next to Andrea Miller and Eric Nguyen, two of the funniest AP kids I know. We couldn't stop cracking jokes, screaming, and laughing the entire time - graduation was just too crazy! Sitting in my seat staring at the camera in my face was all too real... after four years I was actually at my own graduation! Walking the stage happened much faster than I thought it would. When I used to picture graduation, I imagined my life seeming to go in slow motion, all of my high school life flashing before my eyes. Rather than that, the entire ceremony happened quicker than I could blink. It only seemed about ten minutes until I was tossing my cap in the air celebrating my now official adulthood! After walking out of the building, I made sure to catch up with my besties and find our parents for the traditional post-graduation photoshoot! All dressed up in our fancy dresses and hot shoes, my friends and I definitely caught some precious moments. Post-grad pictures are one of my favorite things to look at every year, and to finally have my own was so amazing! After taking a couple shots, everybody split up to go out to eat with their families, including me! My familia hit up Corner Bakery, one of the most delicious cafes that I've ever eaten at! We didn't have too much time to stay long however, because we needed a power nap before the evening came... when it was time to party!
