My whole life has seemed to live up to this one huge moment… graduation! As a senior with outrageous senioritis, there is nothing more exciting than graduation and everything that comes with it. The grad outfits, putting on the cap and gown, and what I thought would be cap decorating. Here at SM, there are no sorts of decorations allowed on our cap, no ability to express ourselves, or show off where we are heading next year. As someone who has looked forward to this my whole life, this was very disappointing. It seems as if every movie or show I have seen growing up had students’ caps decorated. After checking in with many students, I know where a majority of us stand.

When asking senior Sydney Walker this was her response, “We should be able to decorate our cap because it’s sentimental and means something to us. It’s our graduation, and our last time we are able to show who we are. The reason I want to do it is because my great aunt always makes me a [head] lei and I’m sad I won’t be able to wear it.” 

Seniors everywhere feel like decorating your cap has a deeper meaning, and for Sydney it’s a tradition. 

Although some may say differently like senior Chris Vannier, “To be honest I probably wouldn’t have decorated it anyways.” I know it might seem like a hassle, but for many others we have been looking forward to it. 

“I would be so overjoyed if we were able to decorate our cap, it would make graduation so much more fulfilling and personal,” said senior Natalie Mowers. 

Schools all over allow students to decorate their cap as a form of expression. Schools such as USC, Yale, NYU, etc. allow them to do whatever they want to their cap if they choose to, as long as there is no profanity. Does our school think our students would be that immature? It’s a travesty that something as simple as decorating our caps has been stripped from us. 

If other future students have the same passion towards expressing themselves in their caps, I say we take a stand. Start a petition, and let’s get SM to hear us out on this.