graduation day: the senior mass

The first celebration on my Graduation Day was the Senior Mass at my parish. The Senior Mass is a special service in recognition of the Senior Class members of the parish. The Seniors wear their full graduation attire: black robe, orange stole, black cap with black and orange tassel, and other “optional accessories”, such as a gold cord representing membership of National Honor Society, a silver cord signifying fulfilling the requirements of the volunteer program Silver Cord, and symbolic pins (In addition to the standard graduation attire, I wore the NHS cord and two pins, which symbolized being the Top Student in my Spanish II and Spanish IV classes.). The Seniors also sit together during the mass and fulfill some of the duties of the mass, including lectoring, singing the Responsorial Psalm, and bringing up the gifts. At the end of the mass, the Seniors are “capped” by their parents and receive a special blessing.

The Senior Mass was a beautiful, happy service. I enjoyed celebrating the mass among my peers; to my right sat one of my fellow Valedictorians, whose faith is strong and inspiring. Leap of Faith cantored the mass (apart from the Responsorial Psalm). The group’s energetic, passionate, and more modern music was a delight and perfect for the Senior Mass. The Responsorial Psalm was one of my favorite songs, “On Eagle’s Wings,” and it was sung beautifully by two Seniors. These two Seniors are cousins (and one is a good friend of mine); I imagine that singing the Responsorial Psalm together was very special to them and their family. The priest also gave the Seniors a personal gift (in addition to a prayer booklet and a San Damiano cross). His personal gift was singing and playing the piano to “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.” He sang and played the song beautifully, and I smiled through the entire song (To be honest, at first I was very surprised that my priest had such musical talent, but after my initial surprise, I thought, “Of course!”). Also, the Sending Forth song was “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which is not only another one of my favorite songs, but it is also one of my dad’s favorite songs.

(Image courtesy of a friend.) (I am in the top row, third from the left.)

The Senior Mass was the quintessential way to begin my Graduation Day: with God, with my dad, with my peers, and with absolutely, positively happy, beautiful music.

My next entry in my Graduation Day mini-series is about the graduation ceremony!

graduation day: the morning

Graduation Day seems so long ago, almost from a different lifetime, as if, “Did I really graduate from high school?” Yet, Graduation Day was not long ago at all; it’s only been one week since I received my diploma. I haven’t wanted to say goodbye to the happy, wonderful day; I have wanted, and I still want, to relish in the proud, rewarding, radiant, and nostalgic feelings that bloomed in my heart throughout my graduation experience and continue to make me smile. But, now it’s time for me to reflect. My Graduation Day reflection will be a little (chronological) mini-series, starting with the morning of Graduation Day.

I woke up early on Graduation Day in order to have enough time to…

1. Straighten my hair. I’m not “hair savvy,” so although I would like to wear my hair in curls, straightening is the only way that I can comfortably style my locks for special occasions.
2. Apply make-up. I don’t wear make-up, so applying it, especially special occasion make-up: eyeliner and powder, takes me time.
3. Eat a wholesome breakfast. I wanted to start my day with a healthy, normal breakfast. I ate my (current) typical breakfast of: Quick Vanilla Protein Powder Oatmeal, which includes a scoop of almond butter and half of a banana, sliced.

Quick Vanilla Protein Powder Oatmeal

In my opinion, this oatmeal is the perfect way to begin the day. It has sweet and salty flavors (kudos to the vanilla protein powder and the salted almond butter, respectively), and it’s filling and satisfying without making me feel sluggish. And, I just love oatmeal.

• 1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (My 1/2 scoop is about 2 1/2 Tablespoons.)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/8 cup water
• Almond butter or other nut or seed butter, optional
• Sliced banana, optional (I have half of a sliced banana on the side; some of the banana slices top spoonfuls of oatmeal, and some of the banana slices are eaten plain. The sliced banana is not cooked with the oatmeal or topping the oatmeal in the bowl because I don’t like the flavor of oatmeal that has been cooked with banana, as I find the banana flavor to be overpowering and too rich, and because I don’t like too many “extras” in my oatmeal bowl; too many “extras” makes me anxious! I also like to start my day with fruit, even if the fruit is only half of a banana.)

1. Combine oats and protein powder with a spoon until the protein powder is evenly dispersed throughout the oats. (You may combine the oats, protein powder, milk, and water all in one step, but creating the oatmeal may be difficult, as the protein powder tends to clump.)
2. Add milk and water to the oats and protein powder, and stir until there are no clumps of oats and no protein powder is stuck to the bottom of the bowl.
3. Microwave for 1:20 or until desired consistency is reached. (Using my microwave, 1:20 yields a slightly thick oatmeal, not a soupy consistency; I don’t need to top my oatmeal with extra milk because it is too thick.)
4. Immediately after removing oatmeal from microwave, ever-so-slightly mix in almond butter. (I don’t mix the almond butter throughout the entire bowl of oatmeal, just a little section.) (Optional)
5. Enjoy with a sliced banana. (Optional)

For more oatmeal recipes, look at:

• Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal
• Cooked Muesli (stove top)
• Cousin Christina’s Apple Oatmeal (microwave)
• Power Oats (microwave)
• Vanilla Protein Powder Oatmeal (stove top)

Graduation Day was busy, and I didn’t take as many pictures as I would’ve liked, or rather, that I wish I would’ve taken now. I didn’t take an exclusive photo of my Graduation Day outfit (which I absolutely loved), so below are the pieces that made up my outfit, using images I found on the Web.

• A modest, yet fun LBD by MM Couture by Miss Me:

Image Source

(Image courtesy of a friend.)

• Comfortable, walkable nude Mary Jane pumps by Steve Madden (I wore black sandals to Mass and for my graduation party; the pumps were only worn for the graduation ceremony.)

(Image Source)

• Black stone earrings, made by me!
• Big Apple Red painted fingers and toes

It’s not often that I actually put together an outfit (my daily attire is running shorts and a t-shirt), so I enjoyed creating and wearing my Graduation Day outfit.

Next up  in my Graduation Day mini-series is a reflection of the Senior Mass!