As graduation comes around the corner, we recently found out that the only students allowed to wear “graduation memorabilia” are those who are either in National Honor Society or have the Seal of Biliteracy, as decided by the state.

With this declaration, the state is shunning thousands of students who have worked hard in various subjects, but are now not allowed to exhibit it on one of their most important days thus far: graduation. So many students have studied languages like Spanish, French, Italian, and Latin; and yet, these honor societies cannot showcase that talent at graduation. For example, for Spanish Honor Society here at ERHS, you must have As most quarters in your previous Spanish classes, and plan to take AP Spanish 5 if your schedule permits. This is an achievement that takes all of high school to accomplish, and could be considered harder to achieve than National Honor Society is.

Furthermore, some students may be smart but have a speciality in languages moreso than other subjects. By not allowing certain societies to wear their accomplishments, it cancels out the intended purpose of this decision: it will make students in different other honor societies feel left out, like their accomplishments aren’t important enough.

Graduation is the day when students look back on the past four, seven, and maybe even twelve years of schooling which have led them to this point. It allows them to see and think about all they have done, and their plans for the future. As a result, the inability to showcase their activities, particularly academic ones, isn’t fair to those who put a lot of hard work and effort into everything they do.