Graduation Quotes To Inspire High Schoolers (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

With spring comes an end to high school, and the beginning of a long journey through adulthood.

Grads will encounter many challenges along the way. They might have trouble finding a job; they may have difficulties meeting someone to love; they may even take a long time to figure out precisely what it is they want to do with their lives.

They're not alone. Some of the world's most famous people have encountered roadblocks on the way to success, and even then, they ran into plenty more.

Here are some words from famous people and characters that could inspire high school graduates to do great things.

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• Bucknell University, Pennsylvania, US
  
  Bucknell University/Facebook
  The students at this liberal arts college in Pennsylvania mark the Commencement by holding candlelit vigil the night before graduation.
• The United States Air Force Academy, Colorado
  
  Flickr
  The USAFA famously lays claim to the 'hat toss' tradition adopted by so many other universities. Combined with a spectacular flypast, theirs is still the original and best.
• University of Bristol, UK
  
  Flickr
  Graduands at Bristol are unusual in that they don't wear mortarboards at all, because once, according to legend, too many got thrown from Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge, and it was deemed a 'hazard'.
• Oxford and Cambridge Universities, UK
  
  At the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, a fur-lined hood is worn, traditionally across the shoulders (not over the head!). Part of the ceremony is also conducted in Latin, to the general bemusement of most students.
• Stanford University, US
  
  Flickr
  At Stanford, California, graduating students wear a lurid pink and orange stole instead of the traditional hood.
• Kanazawa College of Art, Japan
  
  Twitter
  At this Japanese art school, you can wear anything you want, which annually whips media outlets into a frenzy . The annual ceremony has become so famous that TV crews turn up each year to see what the students are wearing
• Kanazawa College of Art, Japan
  
  Twitter
  ...and by anything, they mean anything.
• Yale University, US
  
  AP
  Not their actual graduation robes, but still, they look rather quirky. The graduation at Yale last year was a rather blue event, as students donned protective plastic kagools in the drizzle.
• Smith College, Massachusetts, US
  
  Smith College facebook
  At this all women's liberal arts college, the alma mater of Sylvia Plath, Smithies have a unique graduation ceremony called the 'diploma circle'. They pass round their diplomas until each receives their own and leaves the circle.
• New York University, US
  
  Getty
  After graduation at NYU, students like to cool off by jumping in New York's Washington Square fountain, still wearing their full regal purple academic dress.
• Spanish universities
  
  YouTube/ Flickr dhjerodas
  Spain's traditional approach towards graduation academic dress includes embellished cuffs, elbow length cape and a circular shape cap.
• University of the Philippines
  
  UPOU Alumni
  Some view students as only having truly graduated if they have marched onstage to accept their diploma during the ceremony. Ceremonies are held at the end of March, and Filipinos take part in graduation every time they complete a level of education. Students wear Sunday best, with a traditional stole worn to indicate honour and distinction. Garlands are essential to graduations, and are usually made from ribbon and shaped into flowers.
• University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
  
  University of the Witwatersrand
  The University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) choir (pictured) is present at every graduation ceremony. According to reports, once the academic procession has left the hall, the song 'I Got You' by James Brown is played over the loudspeakers
• Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan
  
  Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
  Some female students wear onna hakama while others opt for kimino, with males donning either traditional haori hakama or suits during Japanese graduations, which are usually held in March. Each student walks up onto the stage when his or her name is called, bows once, receives the certificate with both hands, bows once more, and returns to their seat.
• Sun Yat-sen University, China
  
  PA
  Graduate students dressed in old time clothing pose for photos for their graduation at Sun Yat-sen University on June 27, 2012 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province of China.
• Rajamangala University of Technology Phra Nakho, Thailand
  
  RMUTP
  Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presided over the university's ceremony. For Thai government universities, the graduates will be handed their diploma by the HRH Crown Prince or Her Royal Highness Princess Pra-Tape or Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn, one Thai blog explains. Only the graduates are allowed to be in the ceremony hall. All the relatives and friends have to wait outside. Shoes have to be black with no decoration, males have to have short hair, with no moustache or beard. Females have to wear stockings and no hair accessories, and all graduates have to wear the graduation gown over their student uniform