"if you don't play that trumpet, Lord who's gonna make all that noise?"

whenever i go to a graduation ceremony (which, granted, isn't very often, but i've been to 2 since i got home from school), i tend to spend most of it thinking of how we could cut down on the time and still allow the parents to enjoy the thing.

i'm thinking if you cut out middle names, that's at least ten minutes, depending on the size of the class and how fast the speaker says the names.
if we could have people hold their applause at the beginning until all the administrators are being named instead of just clapping after each one, that's probably a minute or two.
instead of waiting for applause and general whooping to die down after each kid's name is called, the announcer could time it out and just have a few seconds between names.
the choir (or whatever performing group) could be on the risers ready to go and stay there until they're done singing their last song.
the senior class song could be played all the way through during the recessional instead of taking up part of the ceremony and only playing an excerpt (for which they probably just clicked on the itunes sample...).
if they can coordinate the processional so that kids come in on the left and right, i think they could also do it so that half the kids come in on both sides from the back, and half come in from the front.
every kid who gives a speech could cut out the preliminary "As I was writing this speech, I thought to myself..." and just launch right into an actual speech. a clear, concise, and not-so-cliche one too, if possible.

nevertheless, i am very proud of my friends who graduated this year. i am glad i attended their graduations, and i definitely joined in on the general applause and whooping for people that i knew. one such graduate is my brother, who has already begun working for a company called Spectrum Sound, Inc. He is spending his first three weeks of work in Birmingham, AL, and the next three weeks in Naples, FL. every time he calls he sounds so exhausted, but he's got a job doing what he loves and i'm so proud of him for it! i can't wait to visit him in nashville again.
to all my friends who graduated this year, congratulations!!! the whole world now knows that you can successfully walk across a stage. :)