My mom wants to throw me a Navy-themed HS grad party if I do end up accepting my USNA appointment. To any parents of Mids, did you throw your DS/DD a Navy-themed grad party/send-off party? If so, what special Naval-themed decorations did you use?
Firstly and foremost, this is your event. A celebration of you. What do you want??
At the urging of others in his circle of friends, for our ‘22, we had a separate small party of the people that were part of his 18 month appointment process: coaches, admin, teachers, and all his buddies. A chance to celebrate the appointment, and thank those that helped. USNA modestly themed decorated. That was fun.
For his HS grad party, we incorporated HS and USNA together. A usna cake and HS colored cupcakes, for example. His appointment folder with navy balloons on an area of his table that had his other stuff (idk if that's only a thing in our area or not). Nothing at all for our 2024 HS grad of course - stupid Covid.
He (we) decided that this is a celebration of his 13yrs of k-12 career, with information about his next chapter. And then the entire navy-theme comes when he commissions.
On the tables, we sprinkled small anchors
️ (instead of ‘confetti’ stuff). And had small 2x2 stock cards with envelopes with a plaquard requesting ‘words of encouragement’ to be sent to him through plebe summer (true story: he received them and kept them to open when he needed. He only opened a couple. He carries the rest with him as he moves on. Still unopened. Someday that will be fun as he is cleaning out his home!!).
Ahhhh the memories
. Seriously, there is no right or wrong way. You know your community, your HS, your peers. Obviously you want to fit in and not come off as a braggart, but also want to celebrate your accomplishments. There are ways to do all of that, from zero to
. Do what feels right to you. And tell your mom she can go WHOLE HOG USNA in about 4 yrs if you aren’t feeling it, now. I mean, you aren’t graduating from USNA yet. Everyone intends to, but the reality is that some don’t.
You can also search the forum for past discussion about grad parties. Tons of ideas. It’s a discussion every year. And congrats!!
also I live 40 min away from him so it actually would be possible for me to go 
)
??