Dancing the Night Away at Graduates' Night 2024!

Group photo taken after Graduates' Night 2024.

On March 1st 2024, Year 3 students from Republic Polytechnic were invited to attend their school’s very own Graduates’ Night – similar to prom night – with the main theme as Gala: Celebrating with Gratitude. (They completely missed the opportunity to call it ‘Grad-titude’ instead.)

Tickets were snatched up quickly upon release, giving me flashbacks to when I fought the great wars in Ticketmaster for concert tickets, but with a little less pressure and nerves. There was little talk of anticipation, only those that I started with my close friends and intern mates on matching clothes, accessories and different variations of outfits to choose from, but mainly because I was still interning and wasn’t really in school much. Based on what I heard from an insider that was involved in the voting process of the theme, there was an equal voting of ‘Gala’ (boooring.) and ‘Masquerade’. Going against the chosen theme, I went ahead to dress for the latter theme instead.

Picking out a black layered dress with specks of tiny reflective dots (peep the picture), I planned on meeting up with a friend of mine (Jae) and arriving at the scene together. While my outfit was mostly black, my friend was dressed in a Victorian themed suit, similar to the character ‘Pinocchio’ from ‘Lies of P’, a game available on Steam. I for one just referenced him as ‘the little lad from berries and cream’ on Tiktok lol.

Picture of the dress hours before.

After a few glasses of coke-and-rum along with a bottle of green apple flavoured vodka cocktail later, Jae and I arrived at the school’s main entrance. There was a lucky draw for students who reached at a stipulated time, which we managed to sign up in time for (spoiler alert: neither of us walked away with a prize at the end). We were both led into a small room for students to come together and chat. 

Entering the space were students dressed up well, donning in suits and dresses better than what I had imagined. Poor ambience lighting of blue and purple dancing around, and networking tables which acted as cocktail tables, free non-alcoholics in cans, and a mini stage for a symphony band playing known classic songs. This was exactly what I imagined for a school-budgeted event. It felt great, meeting friends and schoolmates who were dressed for the occasion, some even glamming up themselves and taking it to the next level, in bold red and warrior armour. 

Friends I found in the crowd.

Shuffling through the crowd finally allowed me to meet my table of friends and classmates. It was mostly great, being able to see their faces after so long. We were chatting about, laughing and giggling on inside jokes, passing time, and about half an hour later, the hosts for the night invited students to head to the tables set up outside, allowing them to take their seats before the night began. 

After kick starting with a performance of drums and percussions by Interest Group (IG) Beats Encore, and a quick announcement of lucky draw winners (not yet the Top 10), it was time for IG Rhapsody to begin their performance. Mainly an acapella singing group which greatly reminded me of Pitch Perfect, 'Nonsense' by Sabrina Carpenter was one of the tracks they sang in honour of her opening for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Singapore for six nights. The singers also did their own rendition of lyric change (‘This song catchier than chickenpox is…’) dedicated to the graduates, the lyrics kept within the school's wishes of being PG-13.

IG Beats Encore opening the event.

Buffet was presented for dinner, and it was thankfully inclusive with the tickets bought for entry to Grad Night. Food wasn’t exactly top-notched, yet again this is a school-hosted event. It is good enough, and quite delicious. Food is still food to me though, so I was still grateful for whatever that was provided. Fast-forward to, it was time for the announcement of the Grad Nights King and Queen Contest. Six participants were selected, with an equal pairing of three couples, amongst the pairs, a friend of mine (remember the one dressed as a warrior) was nominated up on stage. As much as I wanted my friend to win, there was no way he would when there was already a main couple stealing the show with their looks and charisma. It was clear who were the main ones to be crowned King and Queen.

Grad Night's King and Queen for this year.

Back to another round of performances, this time with IG Replug stealing the show with their amazing vocals and instrumentals, with a personal track of mine, 'Story of My Life' by One Direction. You bet as a long-time Directioner that I sang along with the crowd as we shone lights in the halls through our phones, hearts out on the floor. Apparently the school had set up a photo area for students to take pictures with, but I couldn’t find the time to do so because before we knew it, it was the final act for the night.

IG Replug covering One Direction's 'Story of My Life'.

Dining tables where the students sat were moved to the corners of the room, a signal telling that it was time for the school’s DJ sets to perform. By then, the sun had set and night took over the world outside, with just a bunch of students crowding a stage, jumping and dancing to familiar pop songs, from Pitbull’s Hotel Room Service to Coldplay’s 'A Sky Full of Stars', and house music I wasn’t quite familiar with. The wildness of students of different schools coming together in one space, hyping one another up, bursting out into lyrics to Taylor Swift’s 'Love Story' and Justin Bieber’s 'Beauty and the Beat', before ending the night with Coldplay – for one last time – with Yellow. The crowds scattered away quick, but not without taking group photos together and pairing pictures (I took several before leaving the scene as well).

Donned in red warrior outfit, also nominated for Grad Night King.

'Berries and Cream' cosplay and my date for the night :)

Group selfie!!! Shame that it's out of focus :(((

Grad Night was something I could’ve only experienced once, and I was glad to have the opportunity to participate in the event. Of course, it would not have been enjoyable without the friends I’ve made and the people I met around the school compounds too. This night made me reflect on my journey from a fresh grad out of secondary school, now reaching graduation in a few months time. My future’s still not secured, but it’s definitely out there. I’m still working towards it, and moving forward, step by step.

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Image Credits: Photograph taken by Vivyan (me), using an Canon G7X
Written By: Vivyan or A Dose Of Vivyan