The 8 Biggest Differences Between Graduation High School And Graduating College

Graduating High School and College are both important milestones in life, but they are both very different experiences. Here are the 8 biggest differences between graduating high school and graduating college.

1) Age!

The biggest and most obvious difference between graduating high school and graduating college is the age that you are during each event! As a high school graduate, you are a fresh faced eighteen year old, eager to move away to university and party your way through it while experimenting with who you are. In contrast, as a university graduate, you’ve been there and done it all and ready to move forward in life!

2) The Next Step

The difference between the next step after high school and university is stark! When you graduate high school, you’ve completed one portion of education and look forward to the next, while graduating college means you’ve completed one portion of your life and moving forward to the next – adulthood! Scary stuff!

3) Getting Ready

As a popularity seeking teenager in high school, getting ready for graduation is possibly the most important thing in your calendar. You spend weeks looking for the perfect outfit and matching shoes, pay for a banging blow dry and have your makeup done at the Mac counter for that picture-perfect walk across stage to receive your diploma. As a final year university student with deadlines looming, three years’ worth of sleep deprivation and a close-knit group of friends, you don’t care as much about looking perfect and getting attention; you would rather focus on celebrating your achievement and enjoying the moment!

4) Arrive in Style!

In high school, a huge event like graduation calls for a huge entrance! People need to know that you’ve arrived! A Limo or a hot air balloon should suffice. College graduation is a low key affair in comparison; a bus or a taxi is good enough!

5) Stage Fright

As a high school student, graduation is a new concept; one which you have no experience of, so the chances are you’ll be nervous about that long walk across the stage to receive your diploma in front of a large audience. You’ll probably spend days or even weeks practising the perfect strut across stage – one that screams ‘confident, yet casual’. You’ll be a seasoned graduate by the time college graduation comes around, so you won’t be stressing about the walk. Instead, you’ll nonchalantly role out of bed on the day and hope for the best!

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6) Life Stress

Although the idea of walking across a large stage in heels in front of hundreds of people may not set the nerves off in college, the stress of going out into the real world after graduation definitely will! While graduating high school comes with the promise of an comfort blanket in the form of going to college, college graduation comes with no such thing! There is no barrier between you, and the real world. This is especially nerve racking if you haven’t made plans for the future.

7) The After Party!

You might dream of having the baddest high school graduation party at the best club, with awesome music, tons of people and buckets of booze, but in reality, you’re under the drinking and clubbing age limit and still living with your parents who aren’t hot on letting you host a crazy rave at their home. On the other hand, as a university graduate who is an independent adult, you have full license to get the party started and have an unforgettable graduation celebration!

8) Independence

Graduating high school doesn’t mean you’ll have a whole lot of Independence. Sure, you may be moving out of your parent’s house and into college dorms, but this means sharing your space with other people. Oh, and still ‘officially’ living at your parent’s home. College graduation on the other hand, means bagging that dream job and moving out permanently. You’ll finally have your own space and your own life!