Graduation Gifts You can wear!

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The best graduation gifts are the ones that have humor and the ones that you can actually wear. You become a walking statement. The best T-shirt designs are from Cafe Press. Here's a collection of graduation gifts that I really find interesting.

For high school graduates this Senioritis shirt is really cool to have. For those of them who are younger than high school, here's something...

For high school graduates this Senioritis shirt is really cool to have. For those of them who are younger than high school, here's something...

For kindergarten graduates! There are shirts, it is so cute and you should acknowledge them for their hard work after all going to first grade is a big thing. Another cute stuff I found are penguins. Check out this penguin graduate.

And of course graduation is not complete without the parents. So here's a present for your mom or dad too. It's a design for the proud parent(s) of the graduate.

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Of course you can't face gradation without some sort of humor either. Here's some of the graduation apparel designs that I really like these!

Graduation Speech - Steve Jobs

Have you seen the graduation speech by Steve Jobs? I never thought there was more to learn about this guy. It's very inspiring watch --

What do you think? Holla back!

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Top 3 Graduation Gifts

Graduation gifts can be puzzling as well as fun to shop around. After all you're shopping for a graduate that has his or her whole life ahead of him. Here are the top 3 graduation gifts that you can give to a high school graduate who's going off to college.

Graduating Teddy -

Something that the graduate can keep in his or her dorm and remember you by is the graduating teddy. It comes in all assortments that can be personalized. And prices range from $23.00 to $80.00.

Keep it clean - Graduation Kit

Is your graduate a neat freak or do you have to tell them to clean their room everyday? If that's the case, imagine them living in a dorm. Here's a cleaning kit that's going to help your graduate stay neat and clean in the dorm. There are also other graduation kits if you want to check them out.

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Sonic Boom Alarm Clocks -

For those graduates who have a challenge waking up in the morning, there are Sonic Boom Alarm clocks that do more than just give alarm. They vibrate and some even shoots out a fan with motor attached and the clock doesn't stop until the fan is reattached to the base! How's that for motivation to get out of bed?

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Graduation Anxieties

Do you know about Go Ask Alice? It's Columbia University's Health Q&A service. I found out about Senioritis -- an anxiety we tend to contract when we're in senior year. It's something we've all experienced in some form or the other. Things tend to move too fast, you don't want to graduate and you're totally nervous. Well a senior year student who was scared of graduation and here's what Alice had to say...

Dear Scared Senior,

The scared feeling that you are experiencing concerning graduating from college is completely normal. I'd be willing to bet the house that you are not the only college senior

feeling this way. In fact, the reality is that the majority of upperclassmen most likely feel like you do.

Any time someone has to undergo a drastic change in their life, a certain amount of anxiety is present. This is why the old adage “no one ever said that change is easy”

exists. The good news is that you are aware of your fear of leaving college and have formulated a plan for what you want to do when you graduate. With this preliminary

map of your future you are already way ahead of the game, as many of your peers most likely have not put in the same amount of thought about their futures that you have.

The problem may not be the post-graduation plan, but the fear and anxiety itself.

A great resource for you to utilize is the career counseling center at your respective college or university. The staff there is specially trained to help you figure out options

concerning different courses of action after you graduate. Discussions will most likely include the right job or graduate school for you and whether or not it would benefit you

to work for a while first before heading to grad school. These counselors will not tell you what to do, nor should they, but these professionals can be a great help when you

let them in on your desires and fears about life outside of the confines of being an undergraduate. The following books are also great career resources and are probably in
the library of your career counseling center:

What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles

I Could Do Anything if I only Knew What It Was by Barbara Sher

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Just keeping in mind that your fear is not about the act of graduating itself, it is based on your perception about what you are supposed to do after you walk across that stage and receive your diploma. Four months is plenty of time to have some sort of idea about what you want to do after college. Heck, you have the rest of your life to find your career destination. Recent surveys suggest that the average number of job changes in a professional career is now hovering between eight and ten, of which half are made by the age of forty. Thus, there is no “wrong” or “right” plan after you graduate, the key may be to allow yourself to set a goal of gaining general life and work experience. There is nothing wrong with exploring your options during this tumultuous time of transition.

If you don’t find career counseling helpful and that your anxiety and fear are becoming increasingly unbearable, talking to a therapist counselor at your university or in your community may be a beneficial step for you to take. If you are a Columbia student, you can call Counseling and Psychological Services at 4-2878 to make and appointment to speak with a counselor.

Next year, you will hopefully look back and laugh because you will be surprised by how exciting and cool it is to be on your own. But first things first, you only live your final year of college once. Do yourself a favor, go out and enjoy yourself. Have a last hurrah with your friends, undergrad style!

Alice

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After the Graduation -- saying 'Thank You'

So you've had your graduation creemony and your graduation party. Now what? Are you thinking of sending thank you notes to those who gave you graduation gifts, came to your party or graduation ceremony? Well, here's what you can do --

1) Thank people by using an informal stationery -- a formal one is not really necessary. But just because it doesn't have to be on a formal stationery doesn't mean that you grab any paper you see and scribble down a note. There are

2) Make specific reference to the subject of the note, like "Thanks for the iPod."

3) Send thank you notes if -

• someone hosted a graduation party for you.
• for graduation gifts received over the mail. Even if you received gifts in person and have thanked them, it's still nice to send a note.
• you've received notes of gifts congratulating you.

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4) Send your thank you notes as soon as possible.

5) Personalize your notes as much as possible -- DON'T print them in advance and distribute them after your graduation party. It not only convey the fact that you're doing it just for the formality, it's also insulting.

6) Don't forget to thank all the teachers, professors, guidance counselors, coaches, and friends who have helped you along the way to reach to your graduation.

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Head Atomica's Graduation Day Song and Lyrics

Have you heard the Graduation Day song by Head Atomica? It's awesome! If you haven't you can hear it here -- or you can hear it again, and again and again. I love it, it's one of my favorite songs. I love the music video the best because there's the graduation ceremony that's going on and it's an exciting scene. The flash backs tell you what's going to happen in the future of the graduates' lives.

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Here are the Graduation Day song lyrics. Enjoy!

Smudged funnies in a broken bottle on the dot at nine
Daddy throws clothes, throws on an old stove
I'm crying in the corner at five
Well I've seen black and I've seen blue but fine lines I don't see
And just because I am in misery
Don't mean a thing that I want to know
That I want to know

Graduation Day
Graduation Day
We take back everything we said about you

September
As far as she remember, they don't teach humility
And just because her only signal is mayday
Don't it mean a thing
Well she's seen love and she's faired war but fairness she can't see
And just because I am in misery
Don't it mean a thing that she wants to know
That she wants to know

Graduation Day
Graduation Day
We take back everything we said about you

That camaraderie's old
Doing what I'm told
And everybody knows this is getting out of hand
Everybody is dying for
That chance to be heard not ignored
And everybody knows this is getting out of hand

Graduation Day
Graduation Day
We take back everything we said about you

I'm not going to school

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After High School Graduation: First Steps of Choosing a College

You're big high school graduation is very near and you haven't decided which college to apply to but don't worry here's a handy list of things you can do to help you decide --

First, start off with a self assessment - be honest and list out who you really are --
What are your strengths, weaknesses, skills and talents?
Define your long term, short term and career goals. List your personality traits and attitudes.

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Now that you know yourself, ask what kind of academic and living environment you want. What do you want out of your college community? Now here are a couple of key words to help you with your search for a suitable college -- circle the words that are important to you.

close to home
commuting distance
in-state
public
private
far away
apart but accessible
new region of country
our region of country
in or near a city
pastoral
near sports environment
small school
medium-sized school
large school
small classes
strong liberal arts
special field of study
familiarity of students/teachers
anonymity
high academic standards
pre-graduate study
financial aid
"big game school"
women's college
men's college
many foreign students
students from many states
religious school
intellectual school
fraternities/sororities
teachers who also research

Once you have all that check out College Confidential and Rugg's Recommendations for college rankings and places you can learn more about the colleges you're considering.

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Graduation Wisdom

If you're worried about finals and graduation here's food for thought --

Neat pic huh? I found it at Graduation Wisdom. It's a really neat site filled with graduation quotes that the wisdom engine puts out. It also has graduation speeches and practical advice to the graduates.

The wisdom engine has a collection of inspirational quotes from commencement speeches. Even if you're not looking for graduation wisdom it's still a good place to go to for some practical advice on how to deal with life.

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The best practical advice I found? "Just believe in yourself and you’ll do just fine. And, oh yes, don’t then forget to market yourself and your ideas. Use both sides of your brain." - Michael Uslan

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7 simple things to keep in mind for your graduation party

Graduation date is pretty much decided by the school or the college but what about your graduation party date? Have you picked one yet? There's a couple of things to consider when you're picking the date for your graduation party. You have to consider both your family and your friends and pick a date that's going to work for them and you.

Here's a list of 7 simple things to consider when you're planning your graduation party:

1. How long will it take to prepare for the party and which dates work best for your family?

2. Which dates work best for your relatives? Are they bringing any children who are still in school? Because a lot of towns celebrate all night party just after the graduation ceremony.

3. Are there other parties or events going on around that time? If so when? Check out with your school for end of the year banquets. Talk to your coaches, teachers and advisers for information on other sort of events not listed in your school district calender. Check in with Churches too since churches in your area might be organizing a non-denominational Baccalaureate service.

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4. Graduations taking place in the month of June might clash with weddings so you might be competing for the time from your guests or from the rental and catering services. June is a very busy month with graduation parties and weddings to go to. A lot of your class mates might be having graduation parties on the same weekend as the graduation ceremony.

5. The best way to get excited guests who are not exhausted from attending so many parties is to have your graduation party in May. That way people are fresh and excited to get to the first few graduation parties of the year. You have a lesser chance of clashing with the other parties. You'll also get better choices of caterers and rental companies if you plan your graduation party in May instead of June. Just have a look out for Mother's Day and Memorial Day.

6. Once you know the date, think of the time. Do you want your graduation party to take place in the morning, afternoon or the evening? If you ask me, a classy morning brunch would be ideal -- something great to do over the weekend and you don't have to worry about your friends who drink too much.

7. After you pick the date call up or send a postcard to your relatives or family members who might be out of town so they can plan ahead. You can follow up with a formal invitation later when the date is closer.

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Give Your Graduation a Boost

Graduation seem easy for some of us but out of every 10 high school students, chances are 4 won't make it to graduation. You might've seen the PSAs on TV about the teen high school students who were given video cameras to have a journal of their trials in high school in preparation for graduation.

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You can follow their stories at Boost Up's website. It's sponsored by the Ad Council and US Army. You can also go through the other sections like the Gallery to see the messages that other people have posted. There's a resource center in the 'Need Help' section so you can get help with your graduation. You can even Boost your friend for graduation – the site is just a wealth of information to help you, your child or your friend get through high school graduation. Remember having a high school diploma will let you earn more as opposed to not having one.

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Graduation Gown: Color Codes

Graduation gowns are color coded. Do you know what color your major has?

You might think that the whole color coding system was done since the by gone days but it was standardized only in the US in the late 19^th century. Here's a list of which field of learning has what color:

WHITE : was taken from the white fur trimming of the Oxford and Cambridge Arts hoods and was assigned to arts and letters.

RED: is the traditional colors of the church so it went to theology.

GREEN: was the color of medieval herbs so it was adopted for medicine.

OLIVE: since it was so close to green went for Pharmacy.

GOLDEN YELLOW: which stood for wealth where scientific research was produced was assigned for the sciences.

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All of the colors were standardized in 1895 with the help of Gardner Cotrell Leonard when Intercollegiate Commission met at Columbia. The American Council on Education authorized and appointed a committee in 1932 to revise the system. The committee reviewed the situation through correspondence and conference and approved a code for academic costumes that went into effect the same year. By 1959, this committee became the “Committee on Academic Costumes and Ceremonies” and made some changes. Again in 1986 the committee updated the graduation gown color code to use dark blue for the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree.

To know more and to see the colors that we use currently in colleges check out the wiki page for graduation gowns.

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