What to write in a graduation card

Graduation cards go wrong when they are about the future instead of the achievement. The person has just finished something hard, and the next thing is probably uncertain and probably stressful. Praise the work they did. If you want to mention what comes next, make it a wish rather than a question.

Warm

Friendly, unfussy, safe with almost anybody.

• Congratulations! You did the thing, and you did it well.
• So proud of you. Enjoy this — you earned every bit of it.
• Congratulations, graduate. Go and have a very large celebration.
• Well done. That took work, and you did it.
• Congratulations. Whatever comes next is lucky to be getting you.

Funny

A joke with affection behind it. Read the room first.

• Congratulations. You may now put the letters after your name and the notes in the bin.
• Well done. Your library fines will be remembered fondly.
• Congratulations on becoming qualified to be confused at a higher level.
• You did it! Now for the part nobody gives you a certificate for.
• Congratulations. Sleep is permitted again.

Heartfelt

For the people you would actually say this to out loud.

• Congratulations. I’ve watched you work for this and I’m so proud.
• You stuck at something difficult until it was done. That is the part worth celebrating.
• So proud of you — not just for finishing, but for how you got there.
• Congratulations. This is the first of many, and I’ll be here for all of them.
• Well done. I hope you are as proud of yourself as the rest of us are.

Simple

When short is the right answer, and it often is.

• Congratulations, graduate!
• Well done — so proud of you.
• Congratulations on your graduation.
• You did it. Congratulations.
• Huge congratulations.

What to avoid

• Don’t ask what they are doing next. They have been asked all week and may not know.
• Don’t compare them to a sibling or a cousin, even favourably.
• Don’t say “the real world starts now”. They have been in it.
• Don’t make the card about the money or the fees.