One medical student is celebrating the culmination of her studies by throwing what she's calling a "graduwedding," complete with faux engagement photos to mark the occasion.
Angie Hamouie told ABC News she coined the term after she found out she had been matched into an OB-GYN residency program at Georgetown University where she'll spend the next four years.
"I was so elated that I decided I wanted to throw a graduation party, but I thought nobody would take my party seriously because it was just a graduation," the Houston, Texas, native recalled.
So she thought to herself, "How can I really convey how enormous this achievement is for me? If I pretend to marry my diploma maybe that would show people how big of a deal this is because people make a really big deal out of wedding."
Student showered with compliments after she courageously admits to low self-esteem College student opened care package from mom, it was the trash he forgot to take outHamouie's graduwedding is set for May 13 as she completes her studies at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The announcement came with engagement-style photos where she's posing with a letter that declared she had been matched to her residency program. The 27-year-old even has a website on The Knot, a bridal website that typically hosts wedding sites for couples.
At her party, she hopes her friends and family can get "really dressed up, dance all night long to a DJ -- all the things you would really associate with a wedding," Hamouie explained.
Leading up to her big day, the student tapped her friend, Zainab Ghwari, who's an amateur photographer, to take her beach-themed photos.
Hamouie said Ghwari thought her "crazy idea ... was hilarious."
Most people laugh when they see her photos, the student said. But she emphasized that the photos aren't meant to bash marriage or people who take engagement photos.
"I want people to question why is it that we don’t celebrate our graduations like we celebrate a wedding, even though they both represent a life-long commitment to something? They both represent the betterment of yourself," Hamouie explained.
She added, "I support anyone who wants to get married or go to school or who wants to do both or do neither, but we shouldn’t be valuing one over the other."