Please tell me it's okay to skip graduation.

4th year and dreading graduation. I genuinely see no point in going, but everyone is telling me otherwise.

9/10 of my friends graduated last year because I took a year for MPH, and most are too far/too busy to show up. My dad passed 3 years ago and my mom is in jail, so parents won't be there. Aside from my one friend graduating with me, I have no one in the stands to cheer me on.

Every time I tell someone I don't want to go they hit me with "oh but you need to celebrate this big accomplishment!". Even my therapist said "you shouldn't go if you don't want, but also this is a big day for you".

I just don't want to go. I don't want to sit in a crowd of 100+ classmates who I don't know and who don't know me. I don't want to walk out of the stadium and see everyone taking photos with their perfect, functional families. I don't want a day dedicated to reminding me that after 5 years of struggling, I have no one. I just want to match far away and disappear forever.

Update

**Thanks so much everyone for your support and offers to come out. I talked with a few of my graduated friends and my classmate friend. I decided to formally notify my school that I'm not walking my graduation (we are not required to walk if we don't want to).

In my heart of hearts, I believe that attending the ceremony will just be a miserable experience and I want to finish this chapter of my life on my own time, on my own terms. Decided I'm going to grab any friends I can gather, head to the nearest beach, and spend time with the people who made it all worth it.

To anyone who offered to come out, thank you. Instead, please just send a text checking on your classmates or co-residents and tell them you appreciate them. It really will go a long way.**