This is a game I made up for my brother’s high school graduation a few years ago. I like to pass it around at this time every year so that if you are unfortunate enough to have to go to any of these events you at least have something to do. Basically, you make a grid like a regular Bingo game, and fill in the center square with the word “FREE”. Then, randomly fill in the remaining squares with these common graduation speech phrases, all of them ridiculous:
- “A new chapter in your lives”
- “Make the world a better place”
- “It’s not about the math or science, but the lessons you learned”
- “Be the change you want to see in the world”
- “The friends you make in high school will be with you forever”
- “Spread your wings”
- “This is the best time of your lives”
- “Future leaders of America”
- “Follow your dreams/Follow your passion”
- “This isn’t the end, but the beginning”
- “This is the first day of the rest of your lives”
- “You stand on the doorway/threshold of tomorrow/the future”
- “You ARE the future”
- “One door closes, another one opens”
- “As you go out/go forth in the world…”
- “As we look back…”
- “Make a difference”
- “Be true to yourself”
- “We came in as strangers and we leave now as friends”
- Dictionary citation, like “Webster’s Dictionary defines ______ as…”
- QUOTE: Any movie
- QUOTE: Any song lyric
- QUOTE: From a former President OR Martin Luther King Jr.
- QUOTE: Any poem
Any time you hear one of these phrases (and you will… oh will you ever), mark it off. If you make a row, column or diagonal, you win! The last five are just generic - mark them off if you hear ANY dictionary citation, movie quote, etc. You can’t be expected to know what song lyric the nerdy valedictorian will use, though if you had to guess, Green Day’s “Good Riddance” would be a good bet, despite the fact that the meaning of the song is totally different.
Have fun out there!
