After several years of hard study, the fruitful and proud harvest moment of the university graduation ceremony is like a diamond in many memories. What would you like to do before graduation? Taking graduation photos, punching in the library, eating all over the cafeterias… As the so-called “no tossing, no youth”, we might as well open our minds a little more and see what kind of graduation traditions are abroad.
“The hat is fancy enough to set off my pride”
Location: Yale University, USA
Yale University, a world-renowned institution and one of the established “Ivy League schools”, must show off its style and self-confidence at the graduation ceremony.
Yale University’s “Class Day” (“Class Day”) originated in the 19th century. At first, it was a day for graduating classes to commemorate their learning career on campus, and later it gradually evolved into a “show field” day for graduates to show their individuality. On this day, graduates have to wear strange hats, so “Class Day” is also called “Silly Hat Day” (meaning “funny hat day”).
In order to show off their style at the strange hat conference, Yale graduates have racked their brains to customize all kinds of imaginative hats for themselves.
Location: University of Notre Dame
As one of the top universities in the United States and a well-known Catholic private university, students at the University of Notre Dame are not conservative in their hat ideas at graduation ceremonies.
“The epidemic can stop my people, but it can’t stop my heart”
Location: Columbia University, USA
Columbia University, a prestigious “Ivy League” school in the United States, held a special and unforgettable online graduation ceremony for the 2020 graduates. This is the first virtual graduation ceremony in Columbia’s history. The graduation ceremony started with the video game “Minecraft”, which was full of creativity and ritual. Afterwards, the student chorus “Cloud Chorus” sang the school song, and the students also passed their graduation hats across the air.
“The wind of freedom, not the usual way”
Location: Stanford University, USA
Stanford University, a world-renowned school, will certainly not be a runner-up at the graduation ceremony. The first half of the ceremony was speeches by the principal and special guests (such as Bill Gates, Tim Cook), and the second half was the climax of the whole ceremony.
The serious graduation ceremony gradually turned into a make-up party as the graduates entered the venue. The graduates present expressed their joy and excitement in a variety of strange ways, and funny costumes and imaginative props were the protagonists of this graduation ceremony.
Stanford University’s motto is “The wind of freedom blows forever”!
Venue: Kanazawa University of Arts and Technology, Japan
Japan’s Kanazawa University of Arts and Technology has completely released the graduation ceremony. If you can see the shadow of academic uniforms at graduation ceremonies of other schools, then the fancy clothes that appear in this school will only subvert your imagination.
Because the role-playing creativity is too good, many TV stations make a special trip every year to shoot the wonderful dresses of graduates. At the graduation ceremony, President Yamazaki encouraged the graduates: “Art will definitely contribute to society, and I hope you can make use of the knowledge you have learned here when you go to society.”
“Come on, hurt each other”
Location: University of Oxford, UK
The graduation season of Oxford University has also changed the solemn impression in people’s minds. The first thing students do when they walk out of the examination room is to release the huge pressure of studying hard in the cold window over the past few years, so there is an interesting activity of “destroying” the celebration.
The students wore formal attire to take the final exam. As soon as they left the exam room, they started tossing flour, yogurt, eggs, and pasta to each other. The scene was very chaotic. For Oxford students, being able to walk out of the exam room clean is a big shame in life, and the dirtier it is, the more popular it is.
