卒業 Graduation

Graduation.  In both Japan and America, graduation ceremonies are emotionally charged ordeals.  The work of so many years is paid off with a little piece of paper, school officials give talks that are sometimes inspiring and sometimes boring, and tears are shed as classmates make their final goodbyes to each other.  There are, of course, many differences in how these school ceremonies go, and that’s what I’m here to talk about.  I’m here to talk about my middle school’s graduation ceremony which happened last Sunday.  Now, before you continue, you have to realize that middle school in Japan is way more important than middle school in America.  I’ll right another blog entry to preface this one so you can better understand, but for now just understand that middle schoolers have a tough time, but go through those tough experiences with their classmates together.

Caveat: Not all Japanese graduation ceremonies are the same, and my small countryside middle school obviously does things differently because the small size of the graduation class allows it to do a lot more for each student.  

The diploma.  In American graduation ceremonies, this diploma, despite it’s deceiving physical insignificance as a piece of paper, is give the upmost importance in the ceremony.  The distribution of the certificates/diplomas is the climax, with many speeches building up to it and a sense of celebration when the diploma is finally in hand.   --- Not so in my middle school’s ceremony.  The distribution of certificates is first order of business.  Rehearsed to the point of automatization, the students stand up and walk slowly and carefully to the front, bow to the guests, bow to the teachers, go up to the stage, wait for their names to be called, respond with a very genki (spirited) “HAI!” (that means ‘yes’) when their name is called, walk to the podium where the principal holds the diplomas, bows to the principal along with the student who went before them, bow when they receive their diploma, take a step back, wait for the next person to come, bow together, and then walk off the stage at the opposite staircase.  As you can tell, there is a lot of bowing that goes on.   At larger schools, there isn’t enough time to call everyone’s name and have all of this ceremonial bowing and standing and walking around, so a representative will just receive the diplomas for everyone in the class.  

Oh, and also, just in case the parents aren’t crying yet, they play very majestic music in the background as the diplomas are being distributed.  Life with a soundtrack...

Now, talking about my middle school’s graduation specifically, AFTER the diplomas have been handed out, the atmosphere changed.  There were a few speeches made by the principal, the head of the PTA, and the head of the Board of Education (the students simultaneously stand up and bow to the speakers at the end of their speeches at a robotically fast pace), but the real change came when the students started making speeches.  Yes, they had sad music playing in the background for this part too. The student rep started crying as she recounted for the class all of the memories they’d shared together, thanked the teachers for all they have done, and mourned the coming parting as many will leave their hometowns to go to high school boarding schools far away.  At this point, most of the students and the teachers were crying too.  It’s hard not too when you see even the toughest looking, high-school aged boys sobbing.  Afterwards, the graduates sang a sad a capella song to the teachers and the underclassmen.

Next, a student representative from the underclass gave a speech to the graduating class, thanking them for all of they did, explaining how much they will be missed and how they were such an inspiration to all.  The underclassmen then stood and sang a song of parting to the graduates. 

The parents then take their turn to express gratitude to the teachers for working hard to educate their children.  The father who gave the speech had to stop several times so that he didn’t cry, but it was obviously hard for him to talk about how ‘it seemed like just yesterday they were 1st graders in elementary school.’   

Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, it does. The graduating students stood up one by one as a different underclassmen stood up and said something about them, like how they were their mentor/role-model and how they can’t imagine life without them.  All the students (except for the underclass boys; they never seemed to cry, though came close at times) were in tears at this point, of course. 

Finally, with almost all of the graduates incapacitated by tears, they lined up and sang one last song for everyone.  The boy who was charged with being conductor and introducing the song to the crowd tried to stop between words to wipe away tears, but gave up towards the end and just did his best to struggle through the ‘this is our last performance as a class...ever. Please listen,” part at the end.  Even though the graduates obviously didn’t sing their best because half of them were crying and not singing, it was still beautiful.   

As for me, I got quite choked up by all that went on, but didn’t exactly cry.  While all that was going on was very heartbreaking, I couldn’t help but smile a little, being happy that my students had had such a happy middle school life, had so many good relationships with their classmates, and had so many happy memories.  I’ll also admit that I wasn’t THAT attached to this particular group of students, as, unlike the 1st and 2nd year students, very few of them had ever really talked to me much at all.  Sometimes I got to joke around with a few of them in class, but not to the extent that I do with my 1st and 2nd year students.  As a result, there were maybe only one or two students who I was sad to see go.  Some of them will also go to the high school in my village, so I will see them walking around town and at some middle school-high school joint events.   However, words cannot begin to describe how heartbreaking next year’s graduation will be when my favorite group of students will say goodbye to me (forever!).  I know, teachers shouldn’t play favorites, but we all do.   May I cherish every day of this last year with them!