Today at 3:30pm, hundreds of college graduates will convene at the Staples Center. A few hours later, they will walk across that stage and accept their diploma. My name will be on the program, but I won't be there. That's right. I am not going to my graduation. There are quite a few different reasons for this and I will be discussing them in this post.
There comes a time in life where you have to decide what is best for you. Just like my promise to never attend Dodger Stadium again, skipping graduation is the right decision for my mentality. There is absolutely no reason why I should sit through 2.5 hours of a graduation from a school that I don't feel connected with whatsoever. Why should I subject myself to unnecessary anger and frustration? I don't feel proud of my FIDM degree because I don't think it's worth much. I don't feel that I received a quality education. Therefore, I don't feel that I should fake being happy and/or excited. In addition, I don't want to let my negativity get in the way of the students graduating who actually feel proud of their so-called "accomplishment" of receiving a FIDM degree.
I just got my transfer credit evaluation from Penn State last night and 68.9 credits will transfer. That doesn't even include the LAVC classes I took this past spring. With this information, I know that I will be able to graduate with my BA from a well-accredited college in 2019. It's possible that I will graduate even sooner. All of my hard work and ridiculous amount of classes has paid off. This also solidified my decision to skip today. I will be attending my Penn State graduation and that is the ONLY college graduation I will be at.
This was a very last minute move. Up until yesterday, I had planned on being at the Staples Center tonight. However, the more I thought about it and the confirmation from Penn State ultimately led me to my decision. I hope everyone who goes to graduation has a great time, but I also hope that they can learn to face the reality of FIDM's educational offerings.
To all my friends and colleagues in my major, you know the truth. We learned it together that Monday in March. We were the first social media marketing class to graduate and we were also the guinea pigs. I'm thankful for you all, because I wouldn't have gotten through those 7:00pm-9:45pm classes without you. While we created friendships, we also learned about the school from the administration's perspective. It was an unfortunate truth, but the unethical actions need to be spoken about. I cannot and will not stay quiet.
I sincerely hope that you all use your passion and drive to succeed in this world. If anyone wants advice on transferring to a four-year school, don't hesitate to ask me. I went through hell and back to be where I'm at now. If I don't see you again, I wish you the best. I fully expect to see some creative and innovative campaigns from you all. See you online!