Posted by Kevan Lee :: May 6, 2008 @ 1:15 pm

High school seniors have spent 12 years studying, learning, and working toward the day that they can get their diploma and get on with their lives. They deserve to be recognized for their hard work and determination…just not with embroidered oven mitts.

The gifts for graduates can often fall into the trap of tedium and practicality. No 18-year-old kid likes practicality! The industry of graduation gifts is sated with corny, impractical, and downright useless trinkets designed to say “I know you graduated” and also “I know little about your interests.” Graduation CDs, graduation books and graduation T-shirts are intriguing in theory, but they routinely fail to land smiles and purpose with their recipients.

The following ideas are surefire winners among the high school alumni crowd. Sure, they’re rather spendy, but with a Lending Club loan, there will be reasonable terms, manageable pay-offs and the added luxury of being the cool aunt who didn’t buy the oven mitts.

Give a grad a party

Celebrating their high school freedom is a lot more fun with 50 of their closest friends, an ice sculpture, and sundaes in a trough. Lending Club can make it happen by giving the party planning posse some extra girth in the budget and giving the graduate a proper send-off.

High school seniors are a special, text-messaging breed, so they will need a bash to match their hyperactive, hyper-social lifestyles. Pizza is never a bad decision, so making it a menu staple would be smart. Keep in mind, though, that these teenagers still eat like horses, so a skimpy supply of pepperoni and olive won’t be enough to feed a hungry group of bottomless pits demanding more garlic butter dipping sauce.

The perfect complement to pizza, at least in a nutritious-neutral grad’s mind, would be ice cream. Really, it matters little what form the ice cream arrives in: fudgsicles, cakes, sandwiches, banana splits, trailers. Might as well cover it all. Variety is the spice of life, and copious amounts of dairy and sugar are guaranteed to be a big hit.

Along with the food, parties need activities. Eighteen-year-olds are not at the point where they can sit around and have meaningful conversations with adults for three hours. Most adults aren’t even at that point. These kids will need distractions, and with Lending Club’s help, the possibilities are endless.

Rent a mechanical bull. Book a hip-hop artist. Buy everyone scooters. Center the activity on whatever the graduate likes best. You’ll make the man of the hour happy, and your recognition of their interests is bound to score major points.

Give a grad a PS3

The college-student-to-be cannot spend all his time studying, so giving the gift of virtual reality is a thoughtful gesture. Whereas most donors might stop with the game system itself, Lending Club lets generous friends and family go one step further by not only purchasing the console but also schilling for the games, controllers, peripherals, and stunted social skills.

The PS3 may be the most versatile video game system on the market with its games, movies, and storage capabilities. Your graduate can study to his tunes, take a break to zap some aliens, and take a longer break to finish watching My Date with the President’s Daughter on Blu-Ray. He’ll get less done, but he’ll have more fun doing it.

When it comes to games, you would be wise to purchase a variety: a sports game for his athletic interests, a shoot-em-up for his machismo, a strategy game for his mind, and a children’s game to put out when girls come over so they think he’s sensitive.

Give a grad a couch

If your graduate is as popular as she thinks she is, then she’ll need a place to put all those friends when they come over. Eighteen-year-old kids are not typically blessed with a great assortment of home furnishings, so being the first to cater to their home décor needs can get you atop their gift-giver list in a hurry.

Be careful, though. There are many mistakes that can be made when it comes to furniture, and they can mean the difference between getting thanked in a college acceptance speech and not getting invited to a graduation party ever again.

First off, no inflatable furniture. This stopped being cool when Goth spike belts gained traction. Second, free furniture from sides of roads, backs of trucks, and landfills is not okay; you want them to enjoy it, not avoid it.

Your best bet is to buy new, and with a Lending Club loan, the sky’s the limit. A cheap loveseat is nice and all, but a reclining sectional might get better reviews. Encase it in leather and you are practically a godparent.

Give a grad a car

The ultimate Lending Club use would be a gift that goes zero to sixty in 20 seconds and can comfortably seat five. High school graduates would flip out if the Lending Club gift funds went toward the purchase of some new wheels—specifically some new wheels that spin at stoplights. A car would be a big surprise for a high school graduate, and while it might not equate four years of high school skipping, partying, and disobeying, it will definitely be appreciated.

A car is a necessity for most post-high school careers, whether it is driven from frat house to campus or apartment to minimum wage job. Even those kids who choose a Hoity-toity Euro backpacking trip would have use for it when they get back. Lending Club is more than happy to help with the costs. With loans on a virtually innumerable scale, the Mercedes and the Astrovan are both fair game.

If putting yourself $30,000 in debt isn’t your idea of a just reward for a high school grad, then maybe taking out a Lending Club loan for the down payment might be easier. Getting a graduate started on the path to financial responsibility and established credit can be a gift more valuable than any other.

Besides, maybe someday, he could use Lending Club for his own graduate gifting.