A fairy tale ending to high school

The expression on Tom Graham’s face is priceless as he looks at himself in the mirror. He’s wearing a white dinner jacket over his faded T-shirt. He’s smiling like he’s won the lottery.

It’s as if he’s found the jacket that will change his life. And in his mind, it might do just that.

Graham, who lives on his own and is about to be the second person in his family to ever graduate from high school, sees the final ceremony, along with the dinner and dance, as a gateway to his new, better life.

The white jacket makes him a new, better person, ready to charge in and light up the room.

“For me to look good on this night... you want to dress for success, that’s what’s drilled into you, and if you come not looking your best, it’s not good because this does signify the beginning of the rest of your life,” says Graham, who plans to go to college to study film.

He goes through the racks of clothes and finds a shirt and tie to go with his jacket, and the smile never disappears from his face.

While most Surrey graduates will head out to the mall or a fancy boutique to buy their graduation duds, there are more than 40 who will find their dresses and suits alongside Graham in a portable in the field at Princess Margaret Secondary School.

From the outside, the portable looks like it’s a serious contender for the title of Most Boring Place on Earth, but inside, a few devoted high school counsellors, aided by Princess Margaret students, have turned it into a fun-filled one-stop graduation shop, complete with balloons.

Students who can’t afford to buy dresses or suits, or any of the accessories that add up to graduation glamour – such as purses, shoes, jewelry, shirts and ties – come to the magic portable, part of the Cinderella Story program.

The Surrey program was started last year by school counsellors, modelled after the Vancouver version – the Cinderella Project – which couldn’t keep up with demand as teens from the suburbs began to show up.

Laurie McMurty, one of the Surrey program’s founders, said it’s important for students to celebrate their successes, and making sure they have something fabulous to wear on grad night is a big part of that. Garments in good, clean condition are donated by members of the public.

“We know there are kids who don’t go to graduation because they can’t afford anything to wear,” says McMurty, who grew up with five siblings and had to make her own graduation dress. “Looking back on it, it was hideous. I would’ve loved to have something like this.”

Without the Cinderella Story, Vicky Olal isn’t sure what she’d be wearing to graduation. She couldn’t buy a dress because it costs too much, she says; she’d probably have to show up in street clothes.

Instead, she’ll be showing up in a royal blue princess gown, all taffeta and silk with detailed embroidery, looking like a star ready for the red carpet.

“It feels special,” says Olal, who moved here from Sudan in 2004. “In my country, we don’t have this kind of stuff. When you’re done (school), you’re done. This makes you feel extra special.”

Teala Rowe is waiting in line for a change room with two dresses slung over her forearm. She’s also wearing a dress from her last round of changes.

“I’m looking for something simple, not too poofy, something I can wear after grad, too,” she says.

Rowe is going on to study steel fabrication at the B.C. Institute of Technology next year, and celebrating her graduation in style is important to her.

“It’s a pretty big deal because my family’s not that wealthy, so this helps a lot,” she said. “It’s the time of year I’ve been looking forward to my entire high school life. It’s the start of my future, sending me off into the world.”

Most of these students have spent their lives trying to catch up, and graduation is the time when they are, with their diplomas, equal.

Education has the power to level the playing field. With the right garments – a great dress or a James Bond-style jacket – these students, without the comfortable circumstances others take for granted, feel they have the chance to take to that field as competitors, and hopefully leave it as victors.

cmacbride@surreyleader.com