The other day, I attended the "graduation" ceremony of the elementary school where my eldest granddaughter has accomplished her fifth-grade education and is going to enter a junior high in the next semester. But she corrected me that it is a "promotion", not "graduation."

Generally, the U.S. compulsory education requires twelve years, from grade one to grade twelve. Here in California, the whole journey consists of five years in elementry shcools, four years in junior highs, and three years in senior highs. Therefore, she has not finished all schooling in the system of compulsory education; she just "promoted" to the sixth grade.

Now I remember I did attend the "graduation" when my son finished his education from a high school. How about college? Well, I also participated the ceremony when my daughter graduated from Michigan, but it was called a "commencement."