It begins with the cheesy violin intro, holding it just long enough to attempt for sentimentality and then begins with the lyrics: "And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives ... "

Oh yes, Vitamin C's "Graduation" song, the paragon of 90s pop. I can still remember being 10-years old and hearing that song and hoping that when I was old enough to graduate, they would play it for us. Now that I'm actually graduated, I'm happier that they did not play that song.

Sitting under the hot sun, in one of the most uncomfortable hats I have ever worn, during graduation, I'm pretty sure I would have resented that song and the person who chose to play it.

It's somewhat strange to think back on graduation and what it means. I discovered that with our diplomas, we got a wallet sized plastic card with a copy of our diploma printed on it, which is unique and, I thought, kind of cool, that I could whip it out and show a potential employer and it would help me get the job.

Yet when I was looking for summer jobs, I realized that all the employers that would hire someone my age didn't care whether or not I had graduated. Neither would my diploma give me an edge over someone else competing for the same job, as they tell us degrees are supposed to do, at least not at this point in my life.

So what else does graduation mean? Well, at least for me, it doesn't signify my arrival to the so-called real world, not yet, and not for a while, but it does signify an influx of gift money.

It means not seeing some of your school mates again, whether that's good or bad, but I still see the crowd of people I hung out with at night, just like high school, and I wonder if I'll keep seeing them after this summer. I wish it meant the end of Calculus, but I'm afraid that it probably just the beginning, and for my readers, it means they hopefully won't have to listen to me ramble on about this subject again.

So, for me, the definition of graduation is like the end of a chapter, the good old book metaphor. As I learned in English class, every good story grows organically in the plot, and this summer is looking to be a truly transitory phase, where things seem the same, but are slowly beginning to change.

So after all the pomp and circumstance, here I am, not magically wiser or taller or better looking, though those robes did make us look like wizards, but the same, and for now I'm happy with that. And as for my diploma card? It's sitting in my wallet, waiting and hoping till the day when I can whip it out and proudly say that I graduated Northeastern High School.