<p>Is Graduation on the 26th open to the public? My family and I were thinking about making the drive to see it even though I realize it would be extremely hard to get a room in the vicinity. Is anyone else going down if it is public?</p>
<p>you have to have a ticket, and all firsties get a certain amount. i'm not sure how/ if the public can get tickets.</p>
<p>Graduation IS NOT open to the general public...only guests are permitted to view the graduation ceremony.</p>
<p>Jadler is correct. Good thing, too. There is barely enough room for just the authorized guests.</p>
<p>I am so jealous of those about to graduate. I'd give my left arm to relive that incredible moment when the covers flew.</p>
<p>DAMN, it's cool! :D</p>
<p>Zaphod, but it sucks because it takes 2.5 hours to call everyone up. The ceremony is nice and so are the speeches but it just takes too long!</p>
<p>Tell me about it! The day I graduated, we were forced to sit in a blazing sun the whole time. </p>
<p>We all forgot our sunblock. My post-ceremony pictures are rediculously funny. A big red face sticking out of a nice white uniform. :D</p>
<p>Still, it was worth it! :D:D:D:D:D</p>
<p>JUST CURIOUS and hve always wanted to know.. after the covers fly at graduation.. Does everyone get their own hat back??</p>
<p>I'm willing to bet they really don't give a d***! :D</p>
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JUST CURIOUS and hve always wanted to know.. after the covers fly at graduation.. Does everyone get their own hat back??
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</p>
<p>HELL no! They're too busy celebrating and boogying off to where their family and friends are! :D</p>
<p>Besides, there is no way to sort them out, and no one wants to.</p>
<p>What happens is that the kids of the locals and guests desend upon the field to pick up souveniers, so try not to have that raunchy pic of your Significant Other still in your cover. ;)</p>
<p>Z....I yelled at my newlywed husband when I learned that he didn't keep that hat! I told him I would have wanted it! He laughed at me and told me the last thing on his mind would have been that someday he'd have a wife who would have wanted him to hold on to that old hat. "Besides" he grinned at me "I have a nicer officer cover now!" And yes, it's mine, now that he's out of Active Duty. Not that I can walk around and wear it, but I do take pride in it.</p>
<p>A p.s. to this....last saturday we were at a San Diego Parent's USNA club meeting and the subject came up amongst former mid parents ( seems the folks have so much fun at this group, even after graduation some families stay in the group, and one family was there in this category) and 2 families of about-to-graduate mids. One mom asked about the hat throw and if she could keep her son's cover. ( THAT'S MY WOMAN!) and the graduated mom commented that no one keeps them. My husband, having been there, done that, chimes in that no one does that. One dad commented that sometimes, a parent will , unsuspecting to the just graduated mid...hire a young kid and pay up to 50$ for THAT kid to look through the huge piles of thrown hats to see if they can locate their child's hat. Another dad said there could be some smart kid who could start a business re-selling those covers back to the families who wanted them, forget about the new officer's desires! :-)</p>
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And yes, it's mine, now that he's out of Active Duty. Not that I can walk around and wear it, but I do take pride in it.
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<p>Put it on and walk up to him. See what happens.</p>
<p>I want to see if he still keeps tradition 25 years later! :D</p>
<p>now listen here Z...
I know ALL ABOUT THAT!
you silly man!
:-)</p>
<p>and it's 35 years later!! we're getting really old here, YOUNG MAN!</p>
<p>Just checkin' on tradition!! ;)</p>
<p>My Mental-Math-Fu is weak! :D</p>
<p>a friend of ours put one-half of a $50 bill in her son's cover, along with her address- when the cover was "returned" to her she mailed off the other half of the $50....</p>
<p>whatever floats your boat!</p>
<p>Agree w/Z -- never thought twice about the cover I tossed. A couple of other things:</p>
<p>In general, the mid covers can't be used as officer covers (true for women naval officers and Marines; not sure about male naval officers). So no practical reason to keep it.</p>
<p>Also, most mids have at least 2 covers -- one for everyday use & the other for inspection. Thus, even after you toss one, you still have one -- if you really want it. I gave my remaining one to my mother. It sat in my parents' basement until she passed away and then I tossed it.</p>
<p>Finally, tossing your cover is the manifestation of leaving USNA. It's part of what you "leave behind." Kinda why most people who graduate from college no longer wear their high school rings.</p>
<p>navy2010....what a teriffic idea!!!!
I'm printing your comments to save for 4 years from now!</p>
<p>thanks
a greatful peskemom</p>
<p>Isn't there a saying something like, b******t walks but, money talks! ;)</p>
<p>well, Z and 1985.......mids may not want those kinds of things- but moms keep things like that forever! </p>
<p>Long ago and far away.... our son, then age 5, ran off a lacrosse field with a flower in his hand for mothers day, along with 20 other little middies and attackers and defenders and goalies.....their helmets were bigger than their heads and the moms could not tell one from the other...but there they came, running off the field with a flower in their hands, one for each mom who spent mother's day sitting on the sidelines for the game.....</p>
<p>so here I am, 14 years later- and our 3-foot nothing has turned into a 6.2 foot thorpedo who will be playing with a USNA lax helmet on his head...and I STILL have that flower pressed tight in a book!</p>
<p>So yes, I'll no doubt try and put 1/2 of a fifty in the cap and hope for the best- sentimental fool that I am! </p>
<p>oh, there I go- getting all sniffly again....:o</p>
<p>Oh boy, and I WAS hoping you folks were going to be the "strong" ones! :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Can you say Empty nest syndrome!!!???? :D</p>
<p>wvdad: empty nest syndrome is only a part of it!</p>
<p>**empty nest + 15 rooms+hubby-to-bed-at-sunset + PMS+dd's boyfriend still lurking around + 6 games in lax season to go without injury before I-day = one good ulcer! </p>
<p>To cure:</p>
<p>Mix above with old photo's to pass the day + happy memories and good times gone by + realization that you are now qualified for your very own AARP card and discounts = one good box of kleenex! </p>
<p>Stir in~ an occassional ounce of trouble (like when the dd and the thorpedo show up on the doorstep for a visit both fighting over who gets the car) = wish for some peace and quiet again!</p>
<p>Shake gently, do not stir...</p>
<p>Ship them both back to school, enjoy the empty nest, sip cocktail quietly and repeat from ** above. </p>
<p>(ps- forget it - I am never going to make it :( )</p>