Fill in who is graduating, from where, and what you know it took, and Hemmingway writes graduation wishes for a card, a text or the note that goes with a present.
It does not know their grades, their plans or whether they enjoyed it, and it will not guess. It also leaves out advice about life, on purpose.
What makes it work
- Say what it took. The weekend job, the resit, the year they nearly left. A graduate knows what the certificate says. They want someone to have noticed the work.
- Drop the advice. "The world is your oyster" and "the real work starts now" are in every other card. They have just had years of being told things.
- Only mention what is next if there is a next. A job lined up is worth naming. "So what now?" is the question they are dreading.
- Pitch it to the age. A six-year-old leaving kindergarten, a school leaver and a forty-year-old finishing a part-time degree need different cards. Say which in the second box.
An example
Asked for a proud but not gushing message to a niece called Marisol, graduating with a nursing degree after four years, who worked weekends at a care home the whole way through and starts a job on a children's ward in September, a message along these lines is what to expect:
Marisol, you did it. A nursing degree, and four years of weekends at the care home on top of it.
I'm very proud of you, and not at all surprised.
The children's ward is lucky to have you from September.
Ask for it shorter, or warmer, in the same chat, and write the final version in your own hand.
From a parent, a relative or a friend
A parent can say the thing nobody else can: what it was like to watch. A grandparent, aunt or uncle does well with one memory and the word "proud". A friend can be lighter.
If you are the one at the lectern, the graduation speech generator is the tool you want. For other good news there is the congratulations message generator, and the guide on what to write in a graduation card shows how to do it by hand.
Common questions
Is the graduation message generator free?
Yes. Hemmingway has a free trial with no card needed, and this tool opens it with your answers filled in. You sign up once, and the message is written in the chat.
What do you write in a graduation card for your son or daughter?
Tell them you are proud, and name one thing you watched them do to get there. A late night, a hard term, the day they decided to stay.
What do you write in a graduation card with money in it?
Write the message first and mention the money last, in one line, such as "a little something towards whatever comes next". Do not put the amount in the card.
Will it sound like AI?
It is built not to. Hemmingway-1, the model behind it, came first on sounding like a person in our own blind test, Human-Likeness. It still helps to read it aloud and change any word you would not use.