Wait for it: Save graduation for senior year

Isabela Diaz | co-editor-in-chief

A silky gown that glows a faint blue — the kind that princesses wear when they run from their prince. A ball gown, the color of night, black, holds the stars in place. Or a fluffy skirt that ends just above the knee. The silver heels that hold millions of sparkles but come off like Cinderella’s shoe before the night even ends. The cap and gown that holds dreams and hopes. The flowers that smile, not wilt, that come at the end of the game.

These rites of passage that seniors look forward to as their high school years come to an end do not start and end senior year because not just seniors participate in these special events any longer. Senior nights — the end of one’s final season as a student-athlete, have transformed into eighth-grade “senior” nights. Dances, such as the big, now formal, eighth-grade dance, or yearly graduations held for kindergarten, fifth grade and eighth grade students — not just senior year — have become increasingly popular, but do having these events earlier than senior year become less special for the seniors themselves?

Students look forward to dances in fifth grade and throughout middle school. With middle school dances, they do not need to become big like prom nor as formal as prom. Eighth-grade students spending hundreds of dollars on dress, limos, tuxedo or suit rentals, and other prom-like items should wait until high school.

Additionally, “senior nights” for middle school students should not occur — the event’s name — “senior night” — happens for a reason. The eighth grade version of a senior night should wait until high school, when recognition for players will occur at the last home game. The last high school home game marks the last time the student will play a sport as a student at the school system.

Many grades have little “graduations”: kindergarten graduations, fifth, eighth and senior graduations. While kindergarten graduations look cute — and we should keep them — fifth- and eighth-grade graduations deem a bit unnecessary. As you become a senior, the years of graduations make senior year not as special because we have these in-between graduations.

Seniors deserve the most events and recognition for making it through school, and these other years of graduations, senior nights, and formal prom-like dances do not need to occur.