High school graduation day is full of excitement for most seniors. It is a milestone that moves students into adulthood and walking across the stage to receive a diploma is a physical representation of that transition. However, this is not even an option for students who cannot afford the $45 cost of a cap and gown.

Without the purchase of a De Soto High School cap and gown, students may not be allowed to walk to get there diploma, missing out on a key moment of their life.

Senior Alyssa Perry agreed that it was unreasonable for students to have to pay for a new cap and gown every single year.

“They’re kind of expensive, and we only wear them once,” Perry said. “I don’t think that it should be required for me to purchase a new one. I’m just going to get rid of mine after I graduate.”

Not only does it seem unfair for students to have to buy a new cap and gown to walk, but it also is very wasteful. A good amount of material is used every year to make hundreds of caps and gowns for schools all over the country. Considering that most students don’t use them after graduation is over, it is unreasonable to require students to buy them.

Personally, I will not be needing my cap and gown again after graduation is over. Like my sister’s old cap and gown, mine will probably sit in the back of my closet too, until someone decides to get rid of it.

While some students may want to keep it for sentimental reasons, many others will put theirs in storage and never take it out again. For this reason, there is a large majority of students who do not want to own their cap and gown.

A solution to this issue would be to have the school buy a set of cap and gowns that can be reused in future years. If the cost for doing this was too much, students could pay a $5 fee to borrow one each year. Also, if a student really wanted to buy one to keep, then they could have the option of purchasing one.

Having a school set of cap and gowns would be beneficial in the fact that it would save students money as well as limit the waste that buy hundreds of caps and gowns produces.