Showcasing Your Grad’s Life
Graduation. What an amazing, exciting milestone in life! As parents, we may have some anxieties, we are also filled with pride for all that they have achieved and the person they have become. There are some beautiful ways to showcase all this love and pride, letting them see for themselves how far they’ve come; a beautiful, professional printed album, a slideshow, messages from loved ones and even a mini-documentary.
These ideas would make a unique addition to graduation parties and for a treasured keepsake gift for years to come.
Here’s where to start (like, now!)…
When your grad was just a baby (seems like yesterday, eh?) - you may not have owned a digital camera yet. Or you were just getting used to the flip phone photo. This means you probably have some printed photos either in an album or, (no judging) in a box or the packaging you picked it up in. Start to organize the printed and digital photos taking these steps:
Get all the pictures into one location - all the printed in a single storage box and then all the digital ones in an organized folder on your PC or laptop.
Sort them into 3 categories: (A) Album worthy (B) Box worthy and (C) Trash can. The album worthy are the best of the best. They are nice, clear pictures that tell a story. The box worthy are pictures that may not tell a story or be passed onto future generations, but you are not ready to let go of them. The trash can, well, they are blurry or damaged or just don’t tell a story.
If you have some extra time and energy, I strongly suggest moving these photos into a photo software that offers facial recognition. It will make the above task much easier for future sorting. Apple Photos, Adobe Lightroom, Google Photos, Photo Director - there are many out there that are free or low cost.
Now it’s showtime…
Make an album. If you pressed for time, you can purchase an album or scrapbook and start putting together the life story of your grad through printed photos, momentos, articles or handwritten notes. The cons are you may have to print some photos yourself and collecting the items will take some time. If you have a little more time to allow for design and ordering, I would recommend a professionally printed album. My favorite is Mpix, but also love Mixbook and Shutterfly offerings.
Create a slideshow. It’s easy to pull together the pictures you have on your phone and place them into a slideshow. Readily available software like Apple Photos and Google make it easy. You can get fancier with fonts, graphics and transition by downloading apps such as FotoPlay Video Maker, PowerDirector and InSlide, all of which get great reviews. It get’s tricky if you want to also include printed photos or photos from another source. This is where the above prep work really pulls through! If you have all the files in one location, it’s much easier to pull them into a slideshow. But if they are in different places, then you need to do some sorting and shifting. PC/MAC slideshow makers are Canva, Adobe Express, Google Slides or Movavi.
Request voice or video messages. You can send out a request to family and friends both near and far to send a short voice or video message to the graduate. Ask for their favorite story about the grad, or what they love most about them or even just a congratulation and wish for good luck. Save these files in a single location so you can pull them together into a montage.
Display their passion. Do you have a grad with a special talent? Maybe it is something that can be displayed during a party. If nothing else, be sure to capture photos of their talent. Whether it be art or music or sewing or cooking, now is the time to shine a spotlight on them.
Schedule a mini-documentary. A mini-documentary, or Senior Film, will combine the slideshow, voice/video messages, their passions plus, a personal filmed interview with them. All on one film.
It’s easy to get wrapped up in the stress and chaos of this time. Setting aside some time just to focus on them, because that’s what this is all about, will help put your mind at ease and will bring much happiness to your shining star. Savor this time. The bells and whistles are nice, but your time and love and attention are needed the most. Congratulations on parenting well done.