Graduation traditions have been a nesting ground for exiting seniors’ last marks on the school and setting new rules for the next graduating class. Things like Prom, senior pranks, senior skip day, Project Graduation, and senior sunrise and sunset have carved memories into the hearts of seniors’ final days and pride in their academic success.

These traditions are important to do and have, even if they are unorthodox. Take, for example, the Senior Prank. This year’s seniors will establish the bar for the bare minimum for the next class to one up. Just like how Prom gets bigger and more extravagant every year, senior pranks tend to raise the stakes compared to previous years.

But why do we carry these traditions? Is it solely to one-up the previous class by doing something more grand and lavish than the last? No, carrying these traditions helps each senior class to leave its unique mark from one year to the next, besides the simple and generic things like the year and class size. It gives the entire class a personality — that’s the key purpose of it: to leave the next prank for the junior classes’ interpretation and definition of themselves.

The importance of traditions, and graduation traditions specifically, define the mark and existence of the classes’ soul, which is given down as knowledge for the next class to redefine and mold into their ideals and societal presence.

It’s why Prom and senior skip day and the prank are all important, they give life to a totally blank slate of a class. It’s why rules for these traditions must be established, and the constant battle to outperform the last class begins.