I’m writing this blog post as an official 2023 graduate!!! It’s been three years of so much work and sacrifice, and the days leading up to graduation were pretty hectic.
I ended up doing a lot of things to make my graduation experience special. It was stressful at times, but I’m glad that I made time to do them despite a super busy schedule. Here’s what I spent the last few weeks doing to celebrate:

Buying A Custom Stole
This was something I wasn’t even planning on doing until a month before graduation. But I’d seen some videos of graduates with custom stoles and I thought it’d be nice to have one of my own. I didn’t really think I’d be able to learn how to make a stole on such short notice, so I ended up buying one on Etsy. There are so many vendors selling customized stoles on Etsy, so there were a lot of options. The vendor I worked with was very nice and willing to send me so many drafts of the stole ideas I had.

Taking Graduation Pictures
While taking pictures after the commencement ceremony is nice, I also wanted to take some pictures the weekend before. The actual day of the ceremony can be chaotic, so it was great to just get some pictures done in advance. Some people opt to get these pictures done with a professional photographer, but I ended up going to campus and having my sisters take pictures on my phone.

Making A Scrapbook
I’ve been working on a scrapbook of various memories and events that have happened over the last few years. I’m not done yet, but I’m excited to continue working on it. It’s going to be nice to have something to look back on and see the things that were important to me at this time.

Congratulations to my fellow 2023 graduates! And to future graduates, I hope you consider doing any of these things to celebrate.