Graduation 2010

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Walking down the Aisle toward the stage. 

                                              The ASB Graduates.

Again the Graduates. 

We got the Presidential Awards for Outstanding Academic Achievement! 

                  (After the ceremony) We are Graduates Baby!

After moving from Indonesia in 2004, I attended the American School of Barcelona. I remember telling everyone that I would leave in 8th Grade...then again in 9th grade...then again in 10th grade...but in the end, I never did leave alone. I stayed till the very end of the journey...with the SEN10RS!

There are so many memories that I have treasured since the first day I arrived at ASB. I remember entering Pacheco’s class (6B!) without knowing anyone. Carla and Gal were the first girls to introduce themselves to me. I spoke 0 english... so as you can imagine, I was having such a hard time introducing myself and communicating to people. However, I was very lucky to find such nice friends at ASB. During break time, a group of girls in my class came up to me and introduced themselves. They knew that I was having problem memorizing their names and so they would let me shorten them: “Call me Cat instead of Catherine...you know like the animal cat? So it’s easy for you to remember!” 

As years passed by, not just my english was getting better, but, the friendship I had (correction: have!) with my friends was (Correction:is!) growing a lot stronger! A lot of things did happen throughout the middle school years, like middle school drama, boys, science fair, middle school dances, sleepovers, l’illa, the bench...and popularity...you know like trying to be in the middle of the spotlight. The central of attention...Ah very typical middle schoolers. Thank God It’s all over! 

After middle school, high school was next in line. This is what I don’t get...people usually see high school as a different world; a world full of drama and is filled with ostentatious people. High school IS a different world. It’s not middle school and definitely not elementary school! But, it is DEFINITELY NOT like how you would imagine it (you know...like typical american high schools) I had the BEST time in High School! Of course, there were some - err A LOT of dramas actually but hey you can always choose not to be involved! But if you are ever stuck, just remember that in life, we are always given challenges. We just have to be patience going through each of those challenges. 

Oh and I am an IB survival indeed! :D I did the most life-threatening, hectic, dreadful (yes, I do like to exaggerate sometimes :p) two years program called the International Baccalaureate. These were the classes I took: English A1 HL, Spanish B HL, Psychology HL, Biology SL, Maths SL, and Visual Arts SL. My three favorite classes out of the sixth classes I took were Psychology, Biology and Arts. The best memories of IB were the Art Exhibition, Clean Camp Climb, Halloween michael Jackson's dance - thanks to Anna Ferrer who coordinated everything, Spanish Class with mi gemela: Iscia, TOK classes (Volchock and Lauscher as teachers - not a very good combination!), Psychology classes with Gaspi and Borja -  OH! UNFORGETTABLE!  And... the worse memories EVER were the English A1 monologue and the individual (taped) oral - very very very terrifying - and the IB May Exams, where you would see people covered in tears coming out of the exam room (again, exaggeration!). But I think some people were really disappointed with their Maths’ papers... I know I was. 

After years of suffering...the moment we’ve all been waiting for finally came: GRADUATION! ASB’s graduations always take place outside at the ASB’s field, where graduates walk elegantly down the stairs toward their seats (it's pretty much our school's tradition). But that day... 11 of June...the day of our Graduation... rain had to come to wash away all the happiness. The school had to rent a convention (it was either that or the cafeteria - yikes) up in Sant Just to do our Graduation. Everything was last minute. We thought it would be a mess. Everyone had no smiles on their faces during the Graduation Practice. 

But... at the end it turned out to be a decent ceremony. Everyone had their happy faces on when we walked down the aisle toward the stage. “Screw this, I’m Graduating! The Rain will NOT ruin the happiest day of my life” - Yeah that’s the spirit! " 

We then held the diploma. Turned the tassel. Threw the hat and shouted out loud: “WE ARE GRADUATES BABY!!!!" 


La.Vita.E.Bella