A Pretty Penny for a Diploma - By Zoe Walsh

A Pretty Penny for a Diploma

By Zoe Walsh

 

     The sentimental moments, last times, and new beginnings are here. Senior year is here. But what nobody warns you about is the expenses. HOLY COW!

     It all starts before your junior year is even over. You search through photographers for your senior pictures, and finally you find the right one. You schedule a date far in the future and put it in the back of your mind. Before you know it, it’s picture time. And of course, senior pictures require money. Add it to the soon to be growing expense list.

     Senior pictures are done. Right after senior year starts, you hear your friends taking about graduation party venues. Smart people have their receptions at their houses. However, that isn’t an option for me. So the pressure is on again because Concordia has limited venue space. The phone calls begin. And soon you find a perfect venue. But booking a venue requires money. Add expense #2 to the list.

     YAY! Your senior pictures are done and edited. Now you need to pick the ones you want and get them ordered ASAP. Add expense #3 to the list.

     It’s the end of October. Jostens wants you to order you cap and gown, and maybe a t-shirt, and sweats, and an extra tassel, and an extra gown, and some cool cards, and some even cooler thank you cards, and return address labels. But if you are smart, you will just get the basics: the gown, tassel, stole, and mortarboard…the absolute necessities to graduate. Even with the bare minimum, it’s way overpriced. Add expense #4.

     As graduation is getting closer, so is the thought of ordering invitations. You need the CUTEST graduation invitations, of course. But maybe you’ll settle for kind-of-cute after you realize the cutest invites are five dollars per invite. You need lots and lots of invites for your aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, third cousins, fourth cousins, fifth cousins, and people your great aunt hung out with in college. Then you go to mail the invites and you have to pay for postage for the 500 some invites you are sending out.  Add expense #5 to the list.

  The week of graduation arrives. You need a graduation dress, maybe some new wedges, and some new bling! You also need a cake for the reception or maybe two because you invited so many people. The guests will be hungry, so your mom orders pulled pork for sandwiches. You will need chips, fruit, and some drinks and some decorations to make the place look cute. Add expense #6 to the list.

     I’m sure I have forgotten something, but the moral of this blog is that senior year is extremely expensive! The burden of these costs, however, does not fall on me. So let’s take a moment to thank our parents for pushing us to get to this point, but also paying for the entire thing. THANKS MOM AND DAD!