Goodbye high school: A Vietnamese rite of passage

The seniors of Trung Vuong High School in District 1 gathered for a ceremony to bid farewell to their high school years on Friday morning.

At the beginning, the atmosphere was jubilant and students all seemed excited. More than 600 of them joined each other to sing teen anthems. In June, they will have to sit important exams that will determine which university they can get in.

Two students laughed as they held the gifts they would later give their teachers.

“We do makeup ourselves for the photos,” Thao Nguyen, a student, said.

Thank-you cards for their teachers.

A student pinned a flower on her teacher's dress.

“I want to write so many things in this scrapbook to tell my friends and teachers how much I would miss them,” Bao Kim said.

Two friends hugged and cried.

Quang Thai finally found the courage to tell his crush about his feelings. Both were shy and couldn't look at each other.