Congratulations Class of 05

My little sister graduated from highschool tonight. We have the same alma mater, private, catholic, all girls, you get the idea. We graduate in white formal gowns (usually wedding dresses sans train and veil) and carry red roses. It's a beautiful ceremony and though I'm not a fan of tradition or girliness it made my graduation very special and unique. She looked gorgeous (of course, since we share a gene pool). I'd post pictures but I don't want you cretons oggling my sister.

I especially enjoyed the graduation speaker they had this year. It was a woman who is currently the principal of a local boys highschool. And her speech was amazing, lots of encouraging girls to be independent, to think and act independently and to strive for excellence. She pointed out all of the opportunities that women have now that they didn't have years ago. I had no idea that women once couldn't take out loans or have their own credit cards. I guess I did, but the practicality of the situation didn't sink in until I heard her say it.

But seeing them up there, all these proud independent women going of to amazing futures made me proud to be a woman. And that I think is why I liked going to a girls school. Even though I didn't get a long with most of my classmates and I didn't really fit in, I never felt like I was just a girl. Academically they expected a lot from you, they expected excellence. They expected us to compete against the boys and win. And that is something I don't think I would have gotten at a co-ed school.

I've heard people say that single sex education hurts socialization etc. But that is bullshit, if you get 60 teenage girls together, eventually they will find themselves some boys. And they will also find independence and a sense of their own self worth. Maybe that's why catholic school girls are so much trouble, we know what we want and we have the audacity to go for it. (Even if what we want is a bottle of tequila.)

Congratulations Class of 05!