Graduation doesn't necessarily mean goodbye

As I was taking photos of Bigfork High School’s graduation ceremony last weekend, I couldn’t help but think about how different things are for the graduates of today. I graduated from high school in 2005, so my college experience wasn’t much different from what the 2012 graduates will be entering, after all, the economy tanked while I was enrolled and that dramatically changed the rules.

First, avoid private student loans. Variable interest rates will swing to the high end, one of mine was at a 10.5% interest rate by the time I graduated and began repayment.

Do whatever you can to avoid borrowing for college, student loans with low interest rates and reasonable monthly payments are a thing of the past.

Secondly, ramen noodles are your new best friend.

They are cheap, easy to make, and don’t fill the sink with dirty dishes. College is expensive, so the next four (or more) years will be all about pinching every penny. To quote “The Lion King,” “they are slimy, yet satisfying” and “you’ll learn to love them.”

Another thing that’s different for our generation is that graduation is not the end of childhood friendships.

When I was in high school everyone was on MySpace since Facebook was still only for Ivy League college students. Nevertheless, none of us lost touch after graduation.

It was extremely entertaining to watch the athletes get (root)beer bellies and the “good girls” get bad tattoos.

In reverse, it was inspiring to see my idiot chemistry lab partner go on to become a military hero and the quiet guy move to China and spend six weeks in a Chinese prison for staying after his visa expired. He’s currently working on a book about his adventure.

Best of all, the baby pictures.

Your Facebook walls will blow up with them very soon, whether that “baby” is a new car, a new apartment, or an actual infant.

All of this connection may seem like a good thing, but while in college there were a lot of students who essentially lived online and on their cell phones. Rather than forming new friendships, they opted to play online and Skype video-call or text with their old high school classmates.

By the time college was over they had several level-80 characters on “World of Warcraft” and racked up impressive scores on Xbox Live with their old friends, but hadn’t done much living or made many new friends. Their cellphones mostly had numbers with their hometown’s area code and their Facebook friend lists were almost entirely from “back home.”

Social networking and online games may be a great way to keep in touch, but don’t let it become your primary mode of socialization. Keeping in touch is good, but living in the past isn’t really living.

For us, graduation isn’t really goodbye like so many songs on Pandora claim it to be.

We can keep up on everything everyone we’ve ever known does with something that fits in our pockets and talking face-to-face is just a click away.

Unlike previous generations, high school shouldn’t be remembered as your “glory days.” They say 30 is the new 20, then that makes adolescence a stepping stone.

While our parents’ generation may love reliving the “good old days” of high school, yours is just beginning.

After all, how good can the “good old days of high school” be when half of it was spent being too young to drive and always having a curfew?

To give some context here, I’m 24 years old and have yet to go a week without being called a “kid” since by today’s standards that’s what I am and you still are.

If you don’t believe me on this one, ask yourself how often do you get to do the things you want to do.

Up until graduation, you had to go to school, now it’s an option. You had to clean your room, now that you’re no longer living under your parents’ roof, you make the rules.

I saw a lot of tears at BHS’s graduation ceremony, but like Colter Mahlum said in his speech at the ceremony, “don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

And, if later on down the road you find yourself homesick and missing the athletes, the “good girls,” or even your idiot chemistry lab partner and that quiet guy, just go online and have a laugh at who got fat, who got a bad tattoo, and get inspired by how much you’ve all changed since high school.