Highschool graduation!

I've done it! At last, I've graduated high school! :) 

  Mum and Dad put together a quaint little ceremony for me, during which Mum handed me my diploma, gave a short but heart-warming speech, all while the Graduation March was played from her phone in the background. It was beautiful! 

  She says that we'll do something bigger to celebrate at my graduation party, which is on the 31st, but I thought this was more than enough on its own. It was heartfelt and sincere. I'm so thankful to have parents that love me so much, support me, and are genuinely proud of me. I'm very blessed. 

  Mum and Dad took some pictures on their respective phones. We had to attend a different family get together before this very exclusive ceremony that just happened to fall on the same date, so daylight was running out. After this, we went to Dairy Queen and I got my favourite- a soft serve "twist", (vanilla AND chocolate), on a cake cone. It was delicious!   

Here are some of the pictures! My legal name is censored out for personal and privacy reasons. 

WOO-HOO!

My proud father <3

Mum- my teacher, mentor, and dear, dear friend. 

  I've had many people ask me what my plans are now that I've finished high school. Things can change, but I do have a general idea of what I'll be doing. Basically, this year I'll be taking a break from school obligations and exploring various artistic endeavors. I'll also be stockpiling some money for future use. More detailed plans for this year can be read here, and I will have a follow-up post to it in a month or so.

  No, I am not going to attend college this year. I'm finally free of the chains of obligation that school held on me, and I'm not about to jump right back into them by way of college. In all honesty, I just need a break. Certain things affect other things, and I do have my priorities. I may look into college in the future, and if I do, it will most likely be vocal/opera or theatre related. :) 

  I'm prepared to be bombarded with repetitive questions regarding college at my graduation party, where Mum seems to think I'll have to deliver answers a little differently depending on the relative that's asking. As much as I want to go all-out total honesty with every answer, it's probably best that I leave out certain details (traveling in a gypsy caravan, anybody?) until further notice. Imagine the following conversation with an older, non-artistic relative:

Relative: So, what are your plans for life now that you've graduated?

Me: I decided to become a mermaid.

Relative: Haha. No seriously, what are your plans?

Me: ...I decided to become a professional mermaid.

 Yeah, you see, that isn't going to go over well. The easier option is to say I'm not sure about college yet and that I'm taking this year as a break to explore artistic pursuits and figure some things out. It's a very watered down version of what's really going on, but it will have to do. That's okay, because this graduation party is also a large milestone for me. I'm thinking of it as a send-off, of sorts. It will be the last huge family event before I slowly emancipate myself from my relatives (and their obligations) to start my own journey on my own path, become my own person, and work towards breaking out of my cocoon. This is the last time they will see the "old me" before the new me breaks free from her cocoon into a beautiful new person, one who's both physically and mentally more mature, and a much better person in general. Goodbye old me, hello new Werandra! It's a graduation party in both terms of graduating high school, and graduating from "old me". Most of the attendants of the party won't have any idea about the latter, but we know, you and I, dear reader. :)

  A few days after the party I will be packing my bags and heading to Massachusetts to visit my close friend, Lindsay. I'm totally stoked about that! :D If you haven't read my previous post regarding plans for this year, it's worth noting that I will also be spending my birthday with Lindsay, in Salem. How fun!

 I do have a few things to post to dA that I meant to put up last weekend, but with all the other on-goings, they sort of got pushed under the rug. I'll also be putting up a blog post regarding how the graduation party went, which will probably have a general update attached with it.  EDIT: In case you missed the link above, here it is.

Thank you to all my friends and fans for all for the love and support. 

I am so happy to have all the wonderful things in my life that I have, and you are a huge part of that.

Until next time!

Love,

Queen Werandra