成人大片

For the past few years, the thought of graduating indoors on the TAS campus has seemed exhilarating yet foreign to seniors due to the unforeseen circumstances that past classes have dealt with. The uncertainty of being able to celebrate entering the next stage of students鈥� lives has loomed over the school for three years. However, this year鈥檚 graduation ceremony will be held at TAS鈥檚 Joie Gymnasium (USG) on June 3, the first indoor on-campus graduation since 2019.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions that prevented large gatherings, seniors in the last three years celebrated differently, including a ceremony on TAS鈥檚 upper school field in 2020, a drive-in diploma pick-up in 2021 and a historic off-campus graduation at Taipei Municipal Stadium in 2022.

鈥淎t first I was disappointed that graduation wouldn鈥檛 be at the gym since we wouldn鈥檛 be able to get photos at school,鈥� Sharon L. (鈥�22, she/her), who graduated at Taipei Municipal Stadium, said. 鈥淏ut I realized that graduating at the stadium was really nice as well since there was a lot of space and photo booths set up for us.鈥�

Despite similarities to pre-pandemic ones, there will still be changes to this year鈥檚 graduation. Historically, the event was held in the Derryl Franz Middle School Gymnasium (MSG), but will take place in the USG this year so 200 to 300 more guests can attend since the MSG can only fit 1,650 people.

鈥淥ne of the issues we鈥檝e run into in the past is that people haven鈥檛 been able to invite all the loved ones who they wanted to have come, so we feel that being able to bring a few hundred more people in is a really good idea as well,鈥� Upper School Principal Mr. Andrew Lowman (he/him) said. 鈥淎lso, there鈥檚 better lighting and better accessibility, particularly for those of our loved ones or students who need assistance moving around. It鈥檚 going to look a little different than it did four years ago, but we鈥檙e really excited to use the upper school space for [graduation].鈥�

Another change is that the ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. instead of in the afternoon to allow students to have time to celebrate on their own. 鈥淲e鈥檝e realized that people sat around all day waiting for graduation [in the past] and that we can do graduation in the morning then people can head off and have celebration lunches with their families as well,鈥� Mr. Lowman said.

Seniors are looking forward to wrapping up their upper school journey with a traditional indoor graduation at TAS. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to have an indoor graduation this year since it鈥檒l be humid outdoors and there鈥檚 a possibility that it might rain outside,鈥� Enya T. (鈥�23, she/her) said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great that seniors get to end high school on a high note with everything returning to normalcy,鈥� Richie H. (鈥�23, she/her) said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really excited to celebrate with my friends and family 鈥� My friends and I might have a celebratory lunch after graduation, so I鈥檓 looking forward to that.鈥�