This time of year is full of celebration and change. Temperatures are rising and summertime is approaching, meaning school’s out! Whether you’re graduating from high school or university, this season is all about you. Graduation has been portrayed in many different ways in Gen-Z media.
From High School Musical flash mobs to Gossip Girl no-cap-just-tassle looks, the hype surrounding these accomplishments has been huge. Looking back on our most beloved shows and movies, countless remarks on graduating and growing up have stood the test of time.
Below are five iconic quotes that new graduates should keep in mind while stepping into this new chapter.
1) Hannah Montana
“The time that we had, I’ll keep like a photograph”
–Hannah Montana, Season 4, Ep. 12
In the final episodes of the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana, the main character, Miley, sings one of the most popular songs from the show. The song, titled “I’ll Always Remember You,” was released in 2010. The album featuring this title was the last ever Hannah Montana album, titled Hannah Montana Forever, honoring the end of an era for Disney and Miley Cyrus’s own show.
Hijacking her high school’s graduation ceremony, Hannah steals the spotlight one last time, taking the microphone and singing the iconic I’ll Always Remember You to her classmates. The song is a great listen for any recent graduate, as it commiserates the range of heavy emotions contained within the accomplishment. Hannah reflects on her good memories and what the future holds not just for herself, but for all the lifelong friends she has made along the way. It’s a truly iconic graduation song that stands the test of time!
I chose the line “The time that we had, I’ll keep like a photograph” for multiple reasons. Out of all of them, this line felt the most sentimental. Holding onto time as a moment, as precious as photos. Very deep for Disney! The other reason is my prior attachment to this song. As a long-time Hannah Montana fangirl, I waited years to quote this line in my senior yearbook, only to have the quotes below the photos taken away at my high school by the time I graduated.
2) High School Musical 3
“We really are all in this together”
-Troy Bolton, High School Musical 3: Senior Year
It was hard to believe that the High School Musical kids would ever actually leave high school! But after the first two movies, the characters found themselves preparing for graduation. Introducing High School Musical 3, the highest-grossing film from the series. A personal favorite out of all of the HSM shows and movies, High School Musical 3 is about the end of an era for both the characters and for Disney due to the extreme success of the franchise. The most recent HSM project concluded just two years ago in 2023.
Troy Bolton, played by Zac Efron, delivers his class’s graduation speech, acknowledging the growth they all displayed throughout the series and referencing of the most iconic quote of all the movies. Post-speech, Troy joins his classmates to form the school’s mascot using two different cap colors, producing a cool aerial shot to end the three-movie series.
High School Musical, like Hannah Montana, is a Disney Channel series I grew up watching, especially the third movie, which was my favorite. I had to include this quote, not just because it is the most recognizable of the whole list, but because it points out a key fact about graduation that a lot of graduates forget in all the change and excitement: All of your fellow classmates are going through the same emotions. Making friends with classmates you are just meeting at the ceremony is easy when everyone’s in it together.
3) Gossip Girl
“Congratulations everyone! You deserve it.”
-Gossip Girl, Season 2, Ep. 25
Any Gossip Girl fan will recognize the line quoted as being from Gossip Girl and not Serena Van Der Woodsen, whose actress, Blake Lively, is pictured above. The quote is from an anonymous number, signed with the infamous tag “xoxo Gossip Girl.” This character is revealed at the end of the series. In fact, a huge component of Gossip Girl‘s popularity is the mystery of this seemingly all-knowing, tea-sharing socialite who manages to remain anonymous for most of the series. The show’s main character, Blake Lively’s Serena Van Der Woodsen, is one of Gossip Girl’s main targets.
Gossip Girl’s graduation speech to the class is sent via text. A symphony of BlackBerry Flips and LG Chocolates sound in the crowd of graduates, and the voice of Gossip Girl, Kristen Bell, reads off an iconic list of insults, ending it all with the quote. A perfectly passive-aggressive closing message for the graduates that is loaded with sarcasm. Sensational!
I didn’t watch Gossip Girl as a kid, only as a young adult. The main cast graduated class of 2009, making this speech and ceremony Gen-Z. The characters may be Millennials; however, the show aired in 2007, also making it a part of Gen-Z. This quote was too hilarious not to include. I highly recommend watching the whole show! Not only to hear this full speech, but to uncover the identity of Gossip Girl as well.
4) K.C Undercover
“I think if you believe in yourself, you can have it all.”
-Katrina Cooper, Season 3, Ep. 26
Zendaya is one of the most famous, talented, and recognizable Disney Channel stars. And K.C Undercover is not even her only Disney show. She co-starred with Bella Thorne in Disney’s Shake It Up, and she had her own feature film with the original Disney movie, Zapped. K.C Undercover was early in her career. She played Katrina Cooper, an average high school student by day and a government official at all other times.
And somehow, she still manages to make it to her graduation ceremony! With a flip onto the stage, K.C delivers a hilariously unplanned, comedic speech. She confesses to her entire class that she was working as a spy throughout high school, adding that she will continue her espionage during college. Shockingly, this isn’t the most unrealistic part of the episode. That title belongs to K.C’s little sister, who exhales memory spray from her mouth in the room and effectively erasies K.C’s confession from everyone’s mind!
I chose to include this graduation speech because of its humor, but there is genuine value in it. Zendaya’s character knows that anything she says will be forgotten, but she sill gives the crowd heartfelt advice.
5) Gilmore Girls
“It’s a rewarding world”
-Rory Gilmore, Season 3, Ep. 22
The final is my favorite of the list for many reasons. The aesthetic of Gilmore Girls, my attachment to the characters, and this quote are just a few! Gilmore Girls aired in the year 2000 and continued till 2007. The protagonist Rory, who is played by Alexis Bledel, is canonically a millennial; however, the show has been re-popularized by Gen-Z as a “fall girl” staple.
Gilmore Girls is about the relationship between a girl and her mother as Rory navigates her adolescence. It focuses on growth, change, and the family that supports you through it all. When Rory graduates from high school in the third season, she delivers a beautiful speech congratulating her classmates and describing the two worlds she lives in. The first world is the world of books. A huge bookworm, Rory describes the plots of stories she’s read through the years, speaking if she were right beside the characters. In reference to her experience with literature, Rory declares, “It’s a rewarding world.” Meanwhile, her second world is her family sitting in the crowd.
This quote is my favorite because it touches on both literature and graduation. Books contain their own worlds with rewards on every page, and likewise, the world a graduate steps into is also rewarding in a myriad of ways.
Graduation Goes On
The specific takeaways of graduation differ from person to person. But for everyone, graduation represents a transition into unknown that is post-education. Some have maps they’ve drawn up to follow, and others go out into their lives with no plan. I hope that the quotes from this list have provided much-needed guidance to anyone in this phase of life. And media for graduates doesn’t stop at childhood shows; here, Gloria Boateng lists 10 songs to keep the graduation vibes going! Interested in going even farther back in coming-of-age classics? The Oracle compiled a list of six witty, whimsical, and wise films to watch after graduating. I recommend checking it out. Thank you for reading!
