Page Toppers

Quotes

• A BMW can't take you as far as a diploma. (Joyce A. Myers<)/li>
• Always believe that you will ultimately succeed at whatever you do, and never forget the value of persistence, discipline, and determination.
• Commencement speeches were invented largely in the belief that outgoing college students should never be released into the world until they have been properly sedated. (Garry Trudeau)
• Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
• Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable. (Wendy Wasserstein)
• The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match. Each one of you is a fuse. (Ed Koch)
• From a Commencement Address:
  "There are many of you who never thought you'd make it this far...especially those of you who can't read and write."
• The future lies before you
  Like a field of driven snow,
  Be careful how you tread it,
  For every step will show.
• A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that 'individuality' is the key to success. (Robert Orben)
• If people offer their help or wisdom as you go through life, accept it gratefully. You can learn much from those who have gone before you. But never be afraid or hesitant to step off the accepted path and head off in your own direction, if your heart tells you that it's the right way for you.
• The journey between what you once were and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place. (Barbara DeAngelis)
• Just about a month from now I'm set adrift, with a diploma for a sail and lots of nerve for oars. (Richard Halliburton)
• One of the first things a college grad discovers is that jobs are handed out by people who think and act a lot like his parents.
• Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul.
  Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
• There is a good reason they call these ceremonies "commencement exercises." Graduation is not the end; it's the beginning. (Orrin Hatch)
• Throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. (Mark Twain)
• The uncertainties of the present always give way to the enchanted possibilities of the future. You are destined for greatness. Enjoy your journey and remember to have fun.
• What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
• Wherever you go, go with all your heart. (Confucius)
• You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world. (Tom Brokaw)
• You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. In 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.

Graduation

I do not know beneath what sky
Nor on what seas shall be thy fate;
I only know it shall be high,
I only know it shall be great.

Graduation

Until now your goal has been
to be like everyone else.
The same kind of clothes and shoes and hair
You might've lost touch with yourself.
Suddenly...these superficial things
Aren't as important as they seemed to be.
Now is the time to examine your soul...
Do you like the person you see?
Will you walk through this world with selfish desires?
Will your greatest concerns be your own?
Will you love your brother and care for him too?
Or will you make your journey alone?
You know you'll get but just one chance
Your earthly like to live.
So learn first to make "self" last
and learn well how to give.
For success is measured
not by treasures you might find
But by the good you do for others
and the love you leave behind.

Facing Graduation

(Laura Rollins Lee)

Faces of old and faces of new,
People we know and people we knew.
Growing together then drifting apart,
Always an ending and now a new start.
At graduation we all grow nearer
And all our friends seem so much dearer.
And as we say our final goodbye,
One last embrace and one more cry,
A "keep in touch" and a "promise I will"
A "remember when" but better still,
A place in my heart, you'll always stay,
That is what's said as we go our own way.

A poem for a graduating daughter

School Day Memories

Saying Goodbye

(from "The Muppets Take Manhattan")

Saying goodbye, going away
Seems like goodbye's such a hard thing to say
Touching our hands, wondering why
It's time for saying goodbye.

Saying goodbye, why is it sad?
Makes us remember the good times we've had
Much more to say, foolish to try
It's time for saying goodbye.

Don't want to leave, but we both know
Sometimes its better to go
Somehow I know, we'll meet again
Not sure quite where and I don't know just when

You're in my heart, so until then
It's time for saying goodbye.

The graduate with a Science degree asks, "Why does it work?"
The graduate with an Engineering degree asks, "How does it work?"
The graduate with an Economics degree asks, "How much will it cost?"
The graduate with a Liberal Arts degree asks, "Would you like fries with that?"

Graduation Page and Album Ideas

• Use the theme from the Dr. Seuss book "Oh The Places You Will Go" and have pictures of the graduate's life from infant through graduation. On the last page use a picture of the graduate walking away from graduation by herself in her cap and gown.
• This verse from the above mentioned book would be good for the last page of a graduation album:
  You have brains in your head.
  You have feet in your shoes.
  You can steer yourself
  Any direction you choose.
  (Dr. Seuss from Oh, the Places You'll Go!)
• HS Graduation page (using black refill page)...mat cap and gown picture (5x7) with white paper, used deckle cutter to trim the edges, Gold letters and numbers for School and Year, gold pen to journal...VERY classy looking.
• As a gift for a relative or close friend make a sentiments album with a few photos from all the years in school and several from the high school years.
• Graduation Cook Book. This is a fun gift for a high school graduate. Send out a request to families and friends of the graduate, asking them to send back a photo of the graduate with them or a photo of the them self.
  Also ask them to send a favorite family recipe - possibly one that the graduate has enjoyed. (You will probably get a better response if you provide a return envelope.)
  Gather the photos and recipes and place the photo on one side and reprint the recipe on the other, decorate, etc.
  It would also be fun to request a funny story or memory about the graduate - especially one pertaining to food.
• Graduation Album title page
  "For Andrea - They say you should give a child roots and wings.
  Here are your roots.
  Be proud that a tiny bit of each of these people
  has gone into making you the young woman you are today,
  and the woman you will become.
  Now spread your wings and soar.
  All my love on your special day.
  Aunt Lisa"
• Cut the graduation year out of your school colors. Layer the colors shadow style.

Graduation ABC Album

Deb Egger is making an ABC album for her son for graduation based on the poem she below. She is using an 8 1/2 x 11 album in his school color. Each page will have a special picture (using favorites of him throughout the years) along with journaling of her thoughts, dreams, and wishes for him pertaining to the line of the poem. The album will include lined pages with messages written by his friends and family, a copy of the song I Hope You Dance and other poems and quotes.

Photos to Take of Graduation

• Photos of graduate with family/out-of-town guests/parents/pet
• Group shot with the graduate's best friends
• Graduate in front of the school building or sign
• Putting on cap and gown/pinning on corsage
• Graduate holding diploma
• Grad with special teachers/professors
• Panoramic shot of the crowd
• The cap-throwing tradition
• Detail shot of diploma, tassel, scholarship certificates and cards
• Graduate with decorations and cake at the party afterward
• Candid shots of party guests

(This list is from the May/June 2000 issue of Memory Maker Magazine)

Life's Rules

• Life is not fair. Get used to it.
• If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.
• Life is not divided into semesters, and you won't get summers off.
• Very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
• Your school may have done away with winners and losers but life has not.
• In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This, of course, doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
• Sorry, but you won't make $40,000 a year right out of high school.
• And you won't be a vice president with a car phone until you earn both.
• Flipping burgers is NOT beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.
• If you mess up it's not your parent's fault. Don't whine about your mistakes. Learn from them.
• The real world won't care about your self-esteem. It'll expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
• Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are.
• Smoking and chewing does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic.
• You are not immortal.
• Always say "Thank You," even if you don't mean it.
• You may be an idiot, but try not to be stupid.
• Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
• Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
• People not to talk back to: 1) Your teacher; 2) 1st Sergeants; 3) The police; 4) Your mama.
• Bein' an idiot is not a box of chocolates!

Graduation (Friends Forever)

(Vitamin C)

And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives
Where we're gonna be when we turn 25
I keep thinking times will never change
Keep on thinking things will always be the same
But when we leave this year we won't be coming back
No more hanging out cause we're on a different track
And if you got something that you need to say
You better say it right now cause you don't have another day
Cause we're moving on and we can't slow down
These memories are playing like a film without sound
And I keep thinking of that night in June
I didn't know much of love
But it came too soon
And there was me and you
And we got so blue
Stay at home talking on the telephone
We'd get so excited, we'd get so scared
Laughing at ourselves thinking life's not fair
And this is how it feels

[chorus]
As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
Come whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever

So if we get the big jobs
And we make the big money
When we look back now
Will our jokes still be funny?
Will we still remember everything we learned in school?
Still be trying to break every single rule
Will little brainy Bobby be the stockbroker man?
Can Heather find a job that won't interfere with her tan?
I keep, I keep thinking that it's not goodbye
Keep on thinking it's a time to fly
And this is how it feels
[Repeat chorus]

Will we think about tomorrow like we think about now?
Can we survive it out there?
Can we make it somehow?
I guess I thought that this would never end
And suddenly it's like we're women and men
Will the past be a shadow that will follow us 'round?
Will these memories fade when I leave this town
I keep, I keep thinking that it's not goodbye
Keep on thinking it's a time to fly