Graduation Ceremonies
    May and June are the months when most American colleges and universities hold their commencements./These ceremonies are a time for family and friends/to gather and celebrate a student’s completion of an a cademic degree./
    Most ceremonies are traditional./The students wear caps and gowns over their clothing./One by one, their names are called./They go to the front, shake hands with school officials/and receive a document of some kind./
    But first they must sit and listen to speeches./Colleges and universities often invite famous guests or former students who have become successful./Schools often want speakers to comment on world events./More recently, the trend has been to find a celebrity or a politician to deliver the speech./
    Common themes of the graduation speech/include wishing the graduates well in the "real world",/cautioning that the world of academy is a special place where they were taught to think./