I Day and HS School Graduation

S

sabrescoutmom

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High School Graduation for DS is the evening before I Day. We live in the Northeast and without traffic or stopping , it is about a 4 hour drive.

DS does not want to miss his graduation. If we leave directly from there for Annapolis ; we will arrive at the hotel about midnight.

has anyone been in this situation before?
We have the week off and can head down a day or 2 early otherwise. We will respect his wishes , but would appreciate any feedback!



It is suc
 
If my son gets in ... his graduation is the day after I day. He will skip graduation gladly.

Your situation seems doable, no? I bet a lot of people arrive that late the night before.
 
Coming from the same time zone and driving, arriving at midnight shouldn't present any major issues. Not sure most kids sleep that well the night before anyway:). If he has an early report time, it may feel a bit rough, but within a day, everyone will be in the same boat in terms of exhaustion.

Obviously, if it's possible to come a day early, that's better. If you're flying, I would definitely arrive early in case there are flight issues. If coming from a distant time zone, arriving early helps with jet lag. But none of the above applies to the OP.

As an aside, thought graduations in our area (2nd/3rd week of June) were ridiculously late. I have to reconsider . . .
 
sabrescoutmom said:
High School Graduation for DS is the evening before I Day. We live in the Northeast and without traffic or stopping , it is about a 4 hour drive.

DS does not want to miss his graduation. If we leave directly from there for Annapolis ; we will arrive at the hotel about midnight.

has anyone been in this situation before?
We have the week off and can head down a day or 2 early otherwise. We will respect his wishes , but would appreciate any feedback!



It is suc
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Wow! So many emotions in 24 hours. My son wouldn’t want to miss his graduation either. He’s been with his peers since 1st grade and they have been through tragedy together resulting in a very close group of friends.

I can say the adrenaline before reporting makes sleep difficult. USMA reports by the last digit of social and it is an exhausting day. Make sure he has a bite to eat before reporting and be ready for an exciting day filled with mixed emotions. I was envious of USNA allowing a short meeting after as USMA slams the door of Washington Hall without one but in hindsight, that might have been more difficult for me. My son was ready with his plan made. Me - not so much. [emoji23]
 
Love4monsters said:
sabrescoutmom said:
High School Graduation for DS is the evening before I Day. We live in the Northeast and without traffic or stopping , it is about a 4 hour drive.

DS does not want to miss his graduation. If we leave directly from there for Annapolis ; we will arrive at the hotel about midnight.

has anyone been in this situation before?
We have the week off and can head down a day or 2 early otherwise. We will respect his wishes , but would appreciate any feedback!



It is suc
Click to expand...

Wow! So many emotions in 24 hours. My son wouldn’t want to miss his graduation either. He’s been with his peers since 1st grade and they have been through tragedy together resulting in a very close group of friends.

I can say the adrenaline before reporting makes sleep difficult. USMA reports by the last digit of social and it is an exhausting day. Make sure he has a bite to eat before reporting and be ready for an exciting day filled with mixed emotions. I was envious of USNA allowing a short meeting after as USMA slams the door of Washington Hall without one but in hindsight, that might have been more difficult for me. My son was ready with his plan made. Me - not so much. [emoji23]
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My son doesn’t want to miss his graduation ... he wants to miss his speech. ;)

He was close to his class. :)
 
GoCubbies said:
A1Janitor said:
If my son gets in ... his graduation is the day after I day. He will skip graduation gladly.

Your situation seems doable, no? I bet a lot of people arrive that late the night before.
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I hope your DS gets to skip his graduation which would mean he’s headed to USNA. [emoji106]
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Lol we do too!

Not his older sister though ... who was asked to give his speech. :)
 
GoCubbies said:
A1Janitor said:
Lol we do too!

Not his older sister though ... who was asked to give his speech. :)
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Is he projected to be the Val for his class?
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It will be announced very shortly. He found out that he had a full point over the salutatorian in weighted average a few weeks ago. If the Salutatorian got a 100 average this last quarter he needed an 80 overall to still win. He got lower than normal because of basketball ... but he still ended with a 97 unweighted and a 102 weighted the past quarter.
 
usna1985 said:
Coming from the same time zone and driving, arriving at midnight shouldn't present any major issues. Not sure most kids sleep that well the night before anyway:). If he has an early report time, it may feel a bit rough, but within a day, everyone will be in the same boat in terms of exhaustion.

Obviously, if it's possible to come a day early, that's better. If you're flying, I would definitely arrive early in case there are flight issues. If coming from a distant time zone, arriving early helps with jet lag. But none of the above applies to the OP.

As an aside, thought graduations in our area (2nd/3rd week of June) were ridiculously late. I have to reconsider . . .
Click to expand...
 
School always ends late, but this is the latest graduation and the 1st one on a Wednesday ( was Saturday, then Frida for many years) since we moved into our home/district 15 years ago!
 
sabrescoutmom said:
High School Graduation for DS is the evening before I Day. We live in the Northeast and without traffic or stopping , it is about a 4 hour drive.

DS does not want to miss his graduation. If we leave directly from there for Annapolis ; we will arrive at the hotel about midnight.

has anyone been in this situation before?
We have the week off and can head down a day or 2 early otherwise. We will respect his wishes , but would appreciate any feedback!



It is suc
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In an odd way, it pre-sages the times in his military career where things just jam up against each other and you gut it through.

He’s young, fit, resilient. He’ll be fine. Feed him well the day before, and hope he can eat some breakfast. Nap in the car.

You’ll see plenty of past posts suggesting bring a sandwich, water or sports drink, plenty of napkins and something to sit on (white uniforms!) for the short period you get to see him after the oath-taking and before he gets back in formation to march into Bancroft. Guaranteed he’ll wolf it down. Plenty of places out in town to grab a meal in a bag.

It will all be a blur to him.
 
^Agree with @Capt MJ (would be foolish not to in most cases). Even if he is 100% sure he wants USNA he is bound to be nervous before I Day so the graduation and travel might be a good distraction.
 
I'll throw another thought out... I get that HS graduation is the culmination of his pre-adult education, but frankly, 30 years from now he will probably look back and and wonder what the big deal was. (I don't even remember any details of my actual graduation, but do recall a few parties after *s*).

Not suggesting that OP skip his graduation, 4 hours away the day before is doable...but for those that can't make their graduation, I wouldn't waste any brain cells worrying about it. Time , tide and formations wait for no one....
 
Old Navy BGO said:
I'll throw another thought out... I get that HS graduation is the culmination of his pre-adult education, but frankly, 30 years from now he will probably look back and and wonder what the big deal was. (I don't even remember any details of my actual graduation, but do recall a few parties after *s*).

Not suggesting that OP skip his graduation, 4 hours away the day before is doable...but for those that can't make their graduation, I wouldn't waste any brain cells worrying about it. Time , tide and formations wait for no one....
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LOL I hated my graduation and agree with this.

But ... I would simply say it this way though ... if my son gets into the Naval Academy and is the valedictorian - there is a certain amount of pride that he has been selected to serve his country and the recognition of his want to serve would be sad to miss.
 
Our current USNA Plebe gave his HS graduation speech titled “Don’t Give Up The Ship”. It got an ovation and our family will remember it for a long time. If you can do both, you definitely should. They don’t sleep that well the night before anyway!
 
A1Janitor said:
Old Navy BGO said:
I'll throw another thought out... I get that HS graduation is the culmination of his pre-adult education, but frankly, 30 years from now he will probably look back and and wonder what the big deal was. (I don't even remember any details of my actual graduation, but do recall a few parties after *s*).

Not suggesting that OP skip his graduation, 4 hours away the day before is doable...but for those that can't make their graduation, I wouldn't waste any brain cells worrying about it. Time , tide and formations wait for no one....
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LOL I hated my graduation and agree with this.

But ... I would simply say it this way though ... if my son gets into the Naval Academy and is the valedictorian - there is a certain amount of pride that he has been selected to serve his country and the recognition of his want to serve would be sad to miss.
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My son was one of several valedictorians named last year (2022 plebe)- when they called them up to be recognized they announce where they'll be attending and the possible major they will pursue - The applause and cheers my son received when they announced the United States Naval Academy was near deafening- I could hardly contain my pride and grin from ear to ear- and I thought 4 1/2 weeks till he left was to quick- I can't imagine leaving that night for USNA or missing graduation all together but would have gladly done so.
 
That would be so cool. Not gonna happen if DS gets an appointment.

DS's high school used to list school of acceptance in the graduation program - but no longer does because it will make some of the graduates not feel good about themselves (not kidding). Also, they dropped recognition of graduating with honors, valedictorians, IB diploma candidates, and NHS members (they used to recognize all of these). There is recognition, however, for the football, basketball, track, and soccer top players of the class. So there's that.
 
ders_dad said:
That would be so cool. Not gonna happen if DS gets an appointment.

DS's high school used to list school of acceptance in the graduation program - but no longer does because it will make some of the graduates not feel good about themselves (not kidding). Also, they dropped recognition of graduating with honors, valedictorians, IB diploma candidates, and NHS members (they used to recognize all of these). There is recognition, however, for the football, basketball, track, and soccer top players of the class. So there's that.
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I would go to the school board and complain. Either recognize everything or nothing at all
 
ders_dad said:
That would be so cool. Not gonna happen if DS gets an appointment.

DS's high school used to list school of acceptance in the graduation program - but no longer does because it will make some of the graduates not feel good about themselves (not kidding). Also, they dropped recognition of graduating with honors, valedictorians, IB diploma candidates, and NHS members (they used to recognize all of these). There is recognition, however, for the football, basketball, track, and soccer top players of the class. So there's that.
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[emoji15] [emoji19] [emoji35]
 
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