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This
is something quite interesting. According to new Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development, almost half of all college graduates in the
world come from only three countries: United States, China, and Japan.
Among the 34 OECD and G20 countries, nearly 26 percent of the total 255 million college-educated individuals between the ages of 25 and 64 hail from the United States. China comes in a distant second at 12.1 percent and Japan is a close third at 11.4 percent.
Plenty of schools hire celebrities to speak at their commencement ceremonies, but it’s certainly rare for students to request an imaginary character to honor them with his presence. That’s exactly what a group of students from Creative Circus, a two-year advertising school in Atlanta, have requested. Remember, they don’t want Jon Hamm to speak at the ceremony, they’re requesting he show up at their graduation acting as Don Draper.
What do you guys think? Is this a realistic request or just plain over dramatic?
Victor Youk graduated from high school last Saturday. He was disappointed that his school firmly disallowed decorating mortar boards, so he figured out a way to rebel against the policy without getting caught — at least until the ceremony was over.
Youk placed a tiny ultraviolet infared light in his cap. It blinked, in Morse Code, “Congratulations Class of 2011″. The message is invisible to the human eye, but video cameras should pick it up.
One more degree of difficulty, and this picture might have been a candidate for the What Is It? game. It’s a graduating class that really called for an overhead shot.
They are the Graphic Design Majors of the CalPoly Pomona graduating class of 2011, who received their diplomas last night. Each decorated their mortarboards with an oversized Pantone chip! Congratulations to all. -Thanks, Professor Ray Kampf!
(Image credit: Robby Cavanaugh)
Like many soon-to-be graduates, two seniors of Westfield High School in Westfield, Mass., decided to pull a little senior prank during lunch in their high school’s cafeteria. The two staged a mock lightsaber fight, “battling” for about 30 seconds in front of a packed lunchroom before ending to a standing ovation from the crowd. The principal didn’t find the homage to Star Wars as impressive as the students did, however, and suspended the two seniors from school, adding that they won’t be able to walk in their graduation next week. The incident is currently under review and the decision may be reversed after a hearing next week. There’s a Facebook group petitioning the school to allow the pair to walk, if you care to add your support.
Link via Geekologie
Some day devices will be readily available to help wheel chair bound people walk again. Watch the video at the link to see a paralyzed man walk with the help of an exoskeleton.
A 22-year-old paraplegic college graduate, paralyzed since a 2007 car crash, used an exoskeleton to walk across the stage Saturday to receive his diploma.
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Graduation Brain Cell – $9.95
Are you still looking for the perfect gift for your favorite graduate? Get them the Graduation Brain Cell from the NeatoShop. Yes, I know they wanted cash. Yes, this is an adorable neuron wearing a graduation cap instead. Come one, were you going to give them cash? No, I didn’t think so! At least this gift proves you are educated and fun.
The Graduation Brain Cell is also available in keychain form!
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more Plush Toy fun!
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Graduation Pen – $2.95
Is your favorite student about to graduate? They need the Graduation Pen from the NeatoShop. The Graduation Pen might come in handy when they have to start writing all those checks to that student loan corporation. Yikes!! When exactly did tuition start getting so high?
Be sure to check out all the neat Pens & Pencils available at the NeatoShop!
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Erica Goldson gave a very different speech at Coxsackie-Athens High School Coxsackie, New York. The class valedictorian gave the commencement address many students over the years claimed they would make if they ever got the chance. She began by stating that her goal in school was to get out as soon as she could.
I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I’m scared.
You can read the entire speech and some reactions at Swift Kick Central. Link -via Holy Kaw!
(Image credit: Flickr user Clever Cupcakes)
Rueben Ayala of Brighton, Colorado had completed three years of high school when he was drafted to serve in World War II. He didn’t like to talk about the war, and his children didn’t know that he didn’t graduate from high school until recently. Sixty-six years later, he has that diploma.
“I’m just so honored, so very honored to be here today,” he said as he got ready to walk onto the football field of Brighton High School with the rest of the class of 2010.
It is safe to say that Ayala was likely the only graduate of the day with 13 grandkids and 18 great grandkids.
When his name was finally read, it is also safe to say that Ayala was the only member of the class to receive a standing ovation from the entire crowd.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to present to you Mr. Rueben Ayala, 2010 graduate of Brighton High School,” the speaker said.
Ayala slowly walked to the front grinning as wide as is humanly possible. His daughter, Susan Meador, wiped away a few tears.
“I really think this is a dream come true to him, something that he waited his entire life for,” Meador said.
Ayala graduated with the help of Operation Recognition – Veterans Diploma Project, which helps veterans whose education was interrupted by the war service. Link
Buzzfeed has a collection of many, many cakes baked for a new graduate. Some will make you want to take cake-decorating lessons, and others will remind you how many different ways you can misspell “congratulations”! Link
Is it graduation time again already? Scholars, politicians, and celebrities will soon travel to various colleges and universities to address the class of 2010. Some will make more of an impression than others. In today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss, see how well you can identify commencement speakers of the past by a quote from their speeches. I scored 70%, not because I recall the speeches, but because I recognized the style. Link
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Eighteen-year-old Connor Olson of Tonganoxie, Kansas spent the past year fighting bone cancer. Earlier this month, he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed on one side. But he also achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and was looking forward to graduating from high school. Last week, Tonganoxie High School held an early graduation ceremony for Connor in which he was the only graduate.
The high school let out early Thursday so that Connor’s friends could watch him get his diploma.
So by the time he made his way into the auditorium, more than 500 people — classmates, neighbors, school board members, people who have raised money for his medical bills — were waiting for him.
Connor’s teachers, wearing black graduation gowns, stood in a big semicircle in front of the stage, most of them blinking back and wiping tears from their eyes.
Even though the stage has a lift, Connor’s friends carried his wheelchair to the stage where he received his diploma. Speakers included the senior class president and a representative of the University of Kansas football team. The school band played the national anthem and a slide show of Connor’s school days was shown. After he received his diploma, he went home with his parents and hospice nurse. Link (with video) -via Fark
Connor died a week later. Link
(image credit: John Sleezer)
How cute are these? If you’re attending a graduation party (or throwing one), the lovely Bakerella shows you step-by-step how to make these mouthwatering mortarboards. Reese’s cups and Godiva squares? Yes, please! If you’re feeling particularly saucy, you can skip the peanut butter cups and make her cake bites instead. More work, definitely, but I can tell you from experience that the cake bites are delish. I don’t think you can really go wrong either way.
