By Emma Kavcioglu

There are key moments that serve as monumental memories throughout one’s senior year. Some examples of these events include Prom, Senior Sunset, Commitment Day, and most importantly, graduation. 

A graduation ceremony is a culmination of your time at the school you attended. You sit on a field with your peers, and revel in the shared memories and experiences throughout your four years of high school. You sit in anticipation as you listen to students’ names being called in alphabetical order, waiting for one last moment that defines the time you spent at that school. 

The moment when the ceremony announcer calls your name, you walk across the stage with your friends and family cheering you on. You are handed a rolled up piece of paper that serves as a symbol of how far you have come in your educational journey up to this point. 

However, at Granada Hills Charter (GHC) that moment looks a little different.

Instead of students walking across a stage, GHC organizes its graduation by dividing the senior class, often nearing 1,200 students, into four quadrants on the football field. During the ceremony, students line up and step forward from their assigned quadrants to receive their diploma from a GHC counselor or administrator

“Our graduating classes tend to be nearly 1,200 students,” administrator Julian Gomez said. “With the current pomp and circumstances that are associated with graduation, the event runs between two and a half and three hours. To have each student walk across the stage would triple that time. I have worked at several high schools and this is a standard format for a large graduating class. I know that Taft, Chatsworth, El Camino Real, and Birmingham Charter all have similar formats.” 

Although the logistical reasoning is clear, some students are still left feeling disappointed. 

“I’m really disappointed that my peers and I do not get the opportunity to end our high school career off by walking the stage,” senior Armen Apoyan said. “That moment was one that me and my family were really looking forward to, and it doesn’t have the same effect when you simply step forward in order to receive your diploma.” 

Some students point to large universities like the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as proof that walking the stage is still possible, even with a large graduating class. However, unlike high schools, universities typically split their graduations into smaller departmental ceremonies, often held over several days. This allows for a more personalized experience but also requires significantly more resources, staff, and scheduling flexibility. These are luxuries that GHC doesn’t have.

Still, there are reasonable ways to speed up the ceremony, allowing graduates to walk the stage, without erasing the tradition.  First, the school could shorten or limit the number of speeches during the ceremony, keeping the messages brief, but meaningful. That time saved could go directly toward letting students have their moment on the stage.

Second, the logistics of calling names could be adjusted to move faster. Names could be read in a continuous flow rather than pausing for each walk. Graduation rehearsal could be used to fine-tune logistics. If the concern is time, then let’s problem solve, not eliminate what matters most. 

Walking the stage is one’s own personal moment where they can revel in all they have accomplished over the course of their high school career. It isn’t a moment that’s supposed to be shared, it’s supposed to be a moment unique to each individual. Students have worked hard for four years through AP classes, extracurriculars, jobs, and a pandemic. We deserve the full experience, not a shortcut version of it. If graduation is supposed to celebrate our accomplishments, then let us have our moment to walk the stage and be seen.