\*copied and pasted from my post in another forum\*

I have my graduation ceremony in two weeks, it’s a year late due to covid and I was so relieved when I thought it might not happen, but now it is and it’s approaching quickly I feel worse and worse about it. As soon as my invite came through, my heart literally sank. I’m very private and very shy, and the thought of spending the whole afternoon in a building swarming with people and parents being loud and excited and then walking on my own onto a stage with everyone watching and expecting me to be happy is just so overwhelming, because I won’t even be remotely happy and everyone else enjoying themselves makes it worse. In case you‘re all here thinking just don’t go then, the reason I want to put myself through this is for my parents. I’m an only child and my parents bankrupted themselves to give me a high quality education and I really want them to have this memory of me. I just need help on how to get through it without feeling like I’m about to cry and looking like I’m hating every second. Thank you so much!