How to tell parents I don't want to go to commencement?
I don't want to go to commencement, which is where the graduating class walks across the stage and receives their diploma. There's going to be 4,000 people graduating from the college I attend this year, and I don't feel like going to a four hour ceremony for me to be up on stage for fifteen seconds. Also, I have a problem with overcrowded areas and large crowds, so it would be a nightmare for me. My parents are really upset that I don't want to go to commencement, and they've been trying to guilt me into it. I will be their first kid graduating from college, so I understand their excitement, but I'm really not comfortable. Should I try to suck it up and go anyway, I should I just tell them I'm not comfortable with it?
It's a four hour ceremony, they do this whole speech thing and then they call the graduates up.
They didn't pay anything for my college. I'm still in high school so a grant paid for my first two years. After this year I will be out of high school and then they will have to start paying for me.