Every Liberty student and Lynchburg native knows that the weekend of Liberty University’s commencement service is crazy. Over 35,000 guests descend on the small town of Lynchburg for the weekend, most of whom have never stepped foot on campus. This causes tons of confusion and insane traffic! Liberty’s 2016 commencement was off the charts. Here are the 12 stages of Liberty University's 2016 Commencement:

1. Waking up at 5 a.m. to beat traffic.

It’s never too early to leave your apartment/hotel to get to campus on Commencement day.

2. Getting on campus and realizing you didn’t beat traffic, and having to walk halfway across campus to the stadium.

It’s a bummer. Especially if you’re wearing heels.

3. Standing on the practice field for an hour.

This is fun… I guess. At least you’re surrounded by 9,000 of your closest friends!

4. Being herded like cows onto the field… which took another hour (or more).

Getting that many graduates onto the football field is no small feat! But it sure does take forever.

5. Finally getting to your seat.

Praise for chairs! After standing so long, sitting has never felt so good.

6. Basking in the glow of being at graduation and sitting among all your fellow 2016 graduates.

It’s so overwhelming to look around and feel the pride and love that you have for your school and your classmates. Even if you were a little bit cynical during your time in college, that all melts away and all you feel is thankfulness and excitement.

7. Commencement starts, and you can’t wait to find out who the special guest is!

Donald Trump?!

8. Willie Robertson! Mel Gibson! Vince Vaughn! Rashad Jennings!

Better than Donald Trump! Willie wasn’t a total surprise since John Luke attends Liberty, but Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn were a total surprise! And totally cool! Rashad was great as usual.

9. Finding your family after commencement.

It’s like Finding Nemo all over again.

10. Going to your degree ceremony and walking across the stage. (!!!)

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for! Sure, you don’t actually get your diploma, but it’s symbolic! And it gives your family the opportunity to scream their lungs out when your name is called.

11. Trying to find a place to have dinner on Ward’s Road.

Literal gridlock. I hope you weren’t hungry after a long and grueling day.

12. Realizing that you’re actually a college graduate!

YOU DID IT! Those four years (or more) of papers, assignments, tests, and studying are OVER!

Liberty’s 2016 Commencement was so wonderful and exciting! But the most exciting part is that I, along with so many of my fellow students, get to call themselves Liberty Alumni. I am so proud to have a degree from Liberty University, and am so excited to see how Liberty and its graduates will continue to impact the world for Christ. I will always consider Liberty home!