How was the walking order at your High School graduation decided?

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Mine was also by height. I distinctly remember because they paired the tallest boys with the shortest girls, and I got placed with some meathead football player who didn't even end up graduating. Had a panic attack while we were lining up to walk into the ceremony because they were going to make me walk in alone, in front of everyone's families. Cried hard enough that two foreign exchange students took pity and let me walk in a group of 3 with them. Fun times.

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poisonedkiwi@reddit

Why would you be nervous walking in alone?

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Yggdrasil-@reddit

Long explanation: Because there were hundreds of people there and all the attention would be on me, even if only for a few seconds. I would have been the ONLY person walking in alone. I was already a bit of an outcast and was terrified that people were going to interpret me walking in alone as some sort of statement. The concept of people paying particular attention to me was mortifying at the time.

Short explanation: I was an 18 year old girl with untreated anxiety

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Mata187@reddit

Only my middle school graduation was by height. All others were by last name.

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CupBeEmpty@reddit

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Bubble_Lights@reddit

Honestly, I don't even care if it is someone's opinion that it is weird or not. I don't even understand why this conversation has gone on this long. This is not important to my life, I'm not like die-hard organize your class by height. 🤷‍♀️

Lol, yeah no, my Boomer parents didn't really play music at all, just in the car. My dad was ok, listening to classic rock and stuff, but my mom was all about the soft rock 🤮.

What did you need a partner for? Did you go up in pairs?

poisonedkiwi@reddit

We didn't have partners during our ceremony either, so I got really confused when I saw so many people here referencing their "walking partners" lol

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IWantToBuyAVowel@reddit

Just when you think it's almost over, boom, a 20 minute speech on how these are the best years of our lives and how we're expected to go on and do great things.

Yeah same with us. NHS got a sash and cum laude and summa cum laude got a different hassle. The valedictorian also got a special sash.

Yet we all just got up in alphabetical order.

Now ask me why me and my buddy almost got kicked out of NHS.

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Walksuphills@reddit

We had differing gold cords for "honors" and "high honors" graduates. But we walked alphabetically.

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randomly-what@reddit

We had honors graduates first and everyone else behind them.

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lfxlPassionz@reddit

Dang we didn't get a sash, just a little sesl on the diploma

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My college graduation was that super impersonal name-on-card. I had friends who would walk for graduation even though they weren't ready to graduate (one of them because they were graduating next December, one just because they felt like it). I just completely ignored mine. What a colossal waste of time.

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VanderDril@reddit

Yeah I graduated after an extra semester and small victory lap in December and told my parents that we'd just go out to an Outback (my favorite place as a kid) and a bar at my hometown next time I had them both together, since they were divorced. I thought they would just blow way too much money for something I knew they would think was chaos. I really don't regret it. I live in another college town currently, and while graduation weekend is still one of my favorites here just for the vibe, I just knew my parents would be just like "wtf was that?" Would probably have done it if I was in a smaller college like nursing or music.

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FiddleThruTheFlowers@reddit

Also went to a large state university, and in a huge major to boot. We were kinda just herded together outside, sat in the same section, walked up as a group, and handed our name card over when we reached the stage. Iirc there was a little barcode on our cards that they scanned so our name showed up on the jumbotron as we walked. I sat with my friends who had names all over the alphabet, lol.

One of my roommates was in a smaller major and said they actually got organized alphabetically. Way easier with 10 people walking than 200 or however many my major had.

Draconuus95@reddit

Alphabetical. With only the valedictorian being out of order.

But I also went to school with a class of 900 and we shared the graduation venue with like 30+ other high schools in and around the city. So they had to have everything very well organized to keep things moving along if they wanted every ceremony done within a week.

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axiom60@reddit

The student speakers (class president, VP, valedictorians etc) walked first in alphabetical order and then the rest of the class followed in last name alphabetical order

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perseid88@reddit

My class had 300+ graduates. The first two rows out on the field of the newly built football field was the top 12 boys and top 12 girls in GPA and they went first (I was one of those) then it went alphabetically after that.

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Our valedictorian and salutatorian came in just like the rest of us plebes but they got to give short speeches.

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allonsy_badwolf@reddit

Same at my school.

I think that's how we did it as well. The clearest memory I have was one of our co-valedictorians playing guitar and singing instead of a conventional speech.

My niece just graduated and they got to line up however they wanted. They just handed the announcer a card with their name on it when it was their turn. I wish it had been that way when I graduated!

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RnBvibewalker@reddit

Never heard of any other order

Our was and continues to be top 15 by GPA starting with Val & Sal, the other 13 and everyone else alphabetically.

I never realized how strange that was until this thread lol.

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ballrus_walsack@reddit

Hasn’t she waited long enough‽

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treznor70@reddit

Your going to interrobang the 80yo woman?

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ballrus_walsack@reddit

Gotta hang with the gang to ‘bang.

But I know for sure, it was alphabetical by last name within the homerooms.

Fun fact-They originally assigned homerooms by last name, A/B names were 1, C/D were 2, etc. But parents complained that was racist, since then all the Smiths would be together, all the Lees, all the Cohens, all the Parks, all the Kims, etc (We had a large Korean-American Population). Then they did it by social security numbers. If we had to fill out paperwork, the homeroom teacher would just call out your full social security number or pass around a paper with the list. The list would often be in an unlocked drawer.

This was the early 2000’s.

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Breezlebrox@reddit (OP)

Was this a public school? That’s definitely a unique one to me

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Strictly alphabetical by last name

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First was top 10% in tank order. My class was 500 people so #1 - #50. That means #1 Valedictorian and #2 Salutatorian and then #3 to #50.

Summa Cum Laude Manga Cum Laude Cum Laude Everyone Else

Then alphabetically within each group.

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Kooky_Possibility_43@reddit

That's interesting.

I've been to several high school graduations, and a couple college graduations.

I've never seen one that wasn't strictly alphabetical by last name.

I think ours was by GPA.

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AmethysstFire@reddit

We got to sit wherever we wanted. We all were given an index card to write our names on, then as we approached the stage, handed our card to the MC, and walked across when we were announced.

We were supposed to stay in as close to the same order for rehearsal as for the ceremony, but it wasn't enforced.

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Serendipity500@reddit

Over 600 kids in my class graduated.

We picked our walking partners and got in line. We each carried a card with our name on it. As we approached the stage, someone collected our card and then gave it to the announcer, who announced our name as we walked across the stage.

We were handed an empty diploma cover and got our diploma when we turned in our gown. (We bought our caps but the gowns belonged to the school.)

Now it may be that the top students were in line first, but I don’t remember.

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flubotomy@reddit

My HS and college both alphabetical. My daughter just graduated college and they allowed you to sit and receive your diploma in any order so you could be with your friends. Upon registering for graduation ( meaning you met the requirements to graduate) you received a registration card with all of your information. As you reached the waiting area prior to walking on stage, your card was scanned and the information was sent to the announcer , presumably on a laptop, and your name was called to receive your diploma

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CuriousRiver2558@reddit

Honors went by GPA. Then alphabetical.

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Angsty_Potatos@reddit

Alphabetical. Which was nice because that's how our homeroom and lunch designations were decided too. So I got to sit with the same group of people who is been in homeroom and lunch with for the past 6 years 🥲

Butter_mah_bisqits@reddit

Th stop 10% in alpha order and then the rest of us peons in alpha order.

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Disastrous_Fault_511@reddit

GPA

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zedicar@reddit

By grade point average

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k464howdy@reddit

why would you go anything other than alpha unless your HS was some country HS with 50 or less graduates.

My boarding middle school had a tradition of everyone in graduating class signing a $1 bill. Then the bundle went to the last person called in the random draw.

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SeaGurl@reddit

Top 10% went in rank order and then alphabetical for everyone else.

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zero_and_dug@reddit

Fattest to skinniest.

Aroused_Sloth@reddit

We all met in the gym where we put our caps and gowns on, and received our name cards. The cards had our names written exactly how they’d be pronounced to the crowd, so you could have a middle name taken out or added, and be sure the name would be said right.

We all got in lines marked on the gym floor with whoever you wanted. There were lines of friends and such, I was next to my buddy.

We walked from there in our line out to the football field, and walked down the track past the families and onto the field with seats. (We had rehearsed the process a day or two prior)

Glittering-Score-258@reddit

Alphabetical is the only way I’ve ever heard of.

In my class I was one of three in a row who had the same first and middle name (they always announce the full name), and first three letters of our last name. The crowd laughed when the third one of us was announced. Like (made up names but similar sounding) Steven Allen Heskee, Steven Allen Hessup, and Steven Allen Hester. Our lockers were all next to each other all through high school, but we didn’t know we had the same middle names until they were announced at graduation.

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ConanTheCybrarian@reddit

We lined up how we wanted, then handed our name cards to our vice principals in the order we chose.

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Mountain_Man_88@reddit

They had some crazy scheme where it went boy girl boy girl but boys were in alphabetical order and girls were in reverse alphabetical order. Boys and girls had different robe colors so it was some sort of aesthetic choice to make the bulk of the crowd look good. I ended up being sat right next to arguably the prettiest girl in school and my teenage boy mind thought maybe she would kiss me out of excitement or something. She did not.

I’ve heard of it being done by height, but mine was alphabetical.

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CatOfGrey@reddit

My high school was a public school, and very much a 'college prep school'. The administration wanted to prevent students being hyper-competitive, so we didn't have a single valedictorian. The order I remember went something like this:

The 12-15 kids in the "Valedictory Group".
National Honors Society members.
Everyone else.

All groups were then alphabetically ordered by last name.

This was 35 years ago for me, so my memory might be fuzzy. It might be that everyone was in the same group, alpha order. But I do remember NHS kids having extra banners or other things in their graduation outfit.

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OsitoArmadillo@reddit

My highschool started with the top 30-50 graduates of the class. And then everyone else walked alphabetically.

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txcowgrrl@reddit

My school did alphabetical order.

Imaginary-List-4945@reddit

I didn't have a ceremony for HS (graduated via exam) but my daughter's was by GPA. I would have hated to be the last kid called up, especially because it was an outdoor ceremony on a boiling hot day and people started leaving early.

KaitB2020@reddit

Everyone I know went by GPA. Top grades to the bottom. I was somewhere in the middle.

By everyone, I mean even my parents. Never heard of it being done any other way. Before now.

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Breezlebrox@reddit (OP)

I think going by GPA is the wildest method. I can see maybe separating and recognizing the top chunk of a class, as some seem to do. But then to just order all the students from ‘best to worst’ is intense.

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KaitB2020@reddit

If I’m not mistaken it’s partly because some of those at the back may not have graduated & they didn’t want to rearrange everyone else, so those kids were at the back so they could dip out quietly & no one would notice.

I could be wrong. I never actually asked about it. It was also over 30 years ago.

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5YOChemist@reddit

High school was alphabetical. College was by seating. We sat in whatever seat we wanted, then each row got up and got in line. We handed a card to the name caller as we walked by. She was an English professor and had made marks on all the cards the day before when each person told her how to pronounce their name.

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Some_Orchid917@reddit

I’m not even sure there was any rhyme or reason. We all picked a partner to walk with (so alphabetical is out of the question), and it seems we were just randomly assigned a seat

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RandomPaw@reddit

We were alphabetical.

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Sorry-Government920@reddit

Straight alphabetically I was the 8th name out of 460

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Worth-Weather-5437@reddit

I have only seen alphabetical.

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Cold-Call-8374@reddit

In high school it was alphabetical by last name. There were special tassels or robe decorations to denote membership in certain clubs or having high GPA's, etc.

Ours was sort of in class rank order, but only partially. I’m making assumptions based on what I know about people in my class and where I graduated. They did tell us our class rank. There were about 300 of us.

National honor society members were first.
Then students who were ranked probably in the top 20 or 25 percent were next, but maybe not strictly in ranking order. Then everyone else in random order.

Sensitive-Season3526@reddit

Mine was in alphabetical order.

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CoherentBusyDucks@reddit

Alphabetical by last name. Boys wore one color cap/gown and girls wore another (our school colors).

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sunset603@reddit

Alphabetical by student name by homeroom teacher.

So for example:

Alphabetical by surname.

Which made for awkward optics with most of the Hmong kids (Thao, Vang, Xiong, Yang) sitting in the back of the room.

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Lostarchitorture@reddit

High school was strictly alphabetical, with a chaperone at the base of the stairs to the stage ensuring we were in the correct order (nobody missing, etc)

College or university was completely different for me in that experience. The general all majors ceremony, we just stood up and moved our tassels to the other side.

Mine had two groups- the ones graduating with honors and the ones.. not. The ones graduating with honors went first, alphabetically, and had their names and honors read. The ones without just had their names read.

We had 800 people in my class, so it went by quickly without breaks. There were like, four name-readers, and they went in a circle while the principal or one of three vice-principals handed a diploma-holder to the student. We got the actual diploma in the mail. We weren't allowed to decorate our caps (and weren't allowed to walk if we did), make any little gestures or dances, and there was minimal cheering. It was so nice not to have to wait forever for things.

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Extension_Camel_3844@reddit

Straight up alphabetical. It was a class of 1200. I can't imagine trying to line up that many kids by height.

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splorp_evilbastard@reddit

Alphabetical. Worked great for me (B). My wife's sucked (W).

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Traditional_Entry183@reddit

The top 20 went first. Then the other 500 or so of us alphabetical.

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ZevVeli@reddit

At my high school, it went like this:

First to walk was the valedictorian (person with the highest grade among the graduates), then the salutatorian (person with the second highest grade among the graduates), then the seniors who were members of the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) who had participated in the flag ceremony, then the seniors in the band who were playing pomp and circumstance (the song they play while people walk.) After that it was alphabetical by last name by academy. See, my school was so large that we were divided into four administrative groups, all the Freshmen were in Academy A, while the rest of us were sorted into Academies B, C, and D. So all the Academy D students went up in alphabetical order by last name, then C by last name, then D by last name.

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Professional_Cry_840@reddit

Was alphabetical, and they rushed through it. Was in the big gym on a rainy muggy summer day and there was just 1 giant fan to circulate the air. Everyone was dressed up as well so combination of all the body heat, layers from nicer outfits, plus cap and gowns made it oppressively hot. At least 1 person passed out and needed ambulance to come by, they were fine after emts took care of them. Graduates all left sweaty, was a great event outside of that, especially for me, I was the first person on my mother’s side to graduate hs

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Ours was whoever you wanted to be with!

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KnittedParsnip@reddit

Graduating class of almost 1000. It was Alphabetical, but in 3 groups. There was this special stamp on our diploma, some state thing where you took a certain number of AP courses to earn. If you had the stamp, you were in a special group that got to walk first.

Then most everyone else got to walk, in alphabetical order.

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shwh1963@reddit

Mine was top 10 then alphabetical.

Top ten in order, then the rest of the class in alphabetical order

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nancylyn@reddit

Alphabetical order

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Individual_Corgi_576@reddit

Mine was totally random.

We were all seated in the auditorium, boys on one side, girls on the other.

I sat down on the outside aisle seat in the front row just by chance. No direction as to seating was given.

Then we were told to file out an exit door and I was told to go first.

I found myself leading the procession to the football field and then in the front row of the classes seating.

The person at the other end of the row, also just a random dude, walked across the stage first, I was the last guy in the front row to walk.

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PuzzledKumquat@reddit

We went boy/girl since the boys wore red robes and the girls wore white. You could choose your walking partner if you wanted, or you could just let the organizing committee seat you by whoever. I didn't have a boyfriend at the time, so I was assigned to walk with a guy I didn't really know.

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WeakAfternoon3188@reddit

Honor students and then alphabetical.

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LuneJean@reddit

Top ten percent went in order of class rank. And then everyone else was in alphabetical order by last name

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venus_arises@reddit

My high school grouped all the logistical stuff by homerooms, so it went by homeroom teacher (which was an alphabetical order)- except the order was random to us. It was truly a popcorn of teachers - my teacher's name was a P but I think I was in the first half of the ceremony.

My chemistry teacher was like, 3 weeks before her due date at her class's graduation ceremony, so the organizers put her and the other pregnant teacher up front so they could go, read the names, and waddle down.

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painter222@reddit

I had a class of 86 people we got to choose partners to walk with names and order were written down at rehearsal. My nephew just graduated (200+ sized class) kids with GPA over 4.0 in alphabetical order first then the rest of the class in alphabetical order. (Over 4.0 GPA is earned through weighted GPA for honors and AP classes.)

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ScottyBBadd@reddit

I didn't go to my graduation

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zylpher@reddit

Alphabetical, I think. Other than the GPS leaders who went first. But my graduating class was 22. 24 if you count the two pregnant girls. By the same guy. Who went to a different school.

My graduation was like 45 minutes.

And no, this wasn't a southern school.

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KrazySunshine@reddit

We had more than 500 and it went by height, which was weird

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After that it was women on one side, men on the other, alphabetical for each line.

I know some years the National Honors Society would be seperate, but they elected not to do that, opting for an asterix on the list.

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WookieeRoa@reddit

Alphabetical by last name

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EffectiveSalamander@reddit

Alphabetical, if I recall, but it's been a decades. I remember that we wore the choir robes for graduation. I was a very small school, so there were enough choir robes for everyone.

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Raibean@reddit

Alphabetical by last name, no partners.

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OBNurseScarlett@reddit

I believe the Valedictorians, Salutatorians, and the rest of the Academic Hall Of Fame members (these were the top 10 members of the class) went first according to class rank, then the rest of the class followed alphabetically by last name.

Spooky_Tree@reddit

We picked out seats ahead of time and then we all stood in that order in a line of the 100 of us. I assume we sat down at some point and then probably were called one row at a time to stand in line again. It's been over a decade so I'm not positive on the logistics, but we definitely chose our seats, it wasn't alphabetical.

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stanolshefski@reddit

It was generally alphabetical; however, not exactly.

The reason it wasn’t exactly alphabetical is because the 700-800 seated students formed the two or four digit year of the graduation.

Boys wore blue and girls wore red, and one color outlined the numbers.

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OldBat001@reddit

Alphabetical.

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clekas@reddit

Top 10% of the graduating class in alphabetical by last name order, switching between genders (I think primarily because the women wore white robes and the men wore dark green). If there was more of one gender in the top 10%, the end wouldn't switch.