As the summer begins, many high school and college students will be donning the robes and the tassel to walk down the aisle as they will start a new life. The difficult task for friends and relatives of the new graduate is to find the perfect gift, but here are some high school and college graduation gift ideas for Him and for Her.
When it comes to graduation gifts, most people will usually go with a gift that can be summarized in one word: useful. For the high school graduate, most friends and relatives go with something that a future college student will use in their dorm room, like a hot plate or laundry basket. The same applies to the college graduate that is about to go to their first job interview, with the useful present being a classy organizer or briefcase.
However, these gifts, useful as they are, can fail to recognize the accomplishment of the graduate themselves. A recent article on the International Business Times emphasizes home gifts over practicality, but they still celebrate the accomplishment of the graduate. For girls, they recommend: A non-traditional flower gift, travel bottle, tea accessories, a Lululemon yoga mat, a charger with an interesting twist, and more. For the boy, it recommends a leather portfolio, a precision tool set, a desk set, and much more. Most of the gifts recommended can be purchased on Etsy Graduation Gift Idea page, which also gives recommendations.
If you are not familiar with Etsy, it is a peer-to-peer e-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items and supplies. These are gifts that have a real homemade yet loving feel to them, and here is a list of things that they recommend:
- An engraved journal
- A personalized mug
- Some kind of tailor-made jewelry to celebrate the grad's life
- A photo frame made for the print of the grad's big event
- A card (with something very inspirational, not just some random pithy quote)
- A clock or watch with some kind of personal and inspirational message
As you can see from the list above, there is much that you can purchase for the newest grad of high school or college. If you cannot see, each one of them is personalized, which frowns upon the usual practice of just going into a gift shop and just pickup up whatever looks good.
This doesn't mean that going to a gift shop and buying a useful item is a bad thing. The only thing that needs to happen is to put some loving thought into it, and a recent article from the Huffington Post recommends some good ones: like a bowl of candy, concert tickets, and a small speaker system. The key is that these are also personalized gifts, as you want to find out what is the grad's favorite candy, what music he or she likes, and what kind of stereo speakers that they would want in their new place of living.
The key to any graduation gift idea for him or her is personalization, finding out what he or she really wants, as well as inspiration, congratulating him or her for what they have achieved.
