A Student Missed His Graduation While Stuck On The Train, So Passengers Threw Him One

While taking the New York City subway to his college graduation on Tuesday, Jerich Marco Alcantara got stuck underground for hours and completely missed the ceremony. But his friends and other passengers stepped in to throw him an impromptu graduation on the train, and one rider captured the entire heartwarming event.

Decked out in his purple cap and gown, Alcantara was trying to get to Radio City Music Hall to get his degree from the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing. Nadiya Afzal posted a video of the spontaneous ceremony on Facebook, writing, "Poor kid missed his graduation because of the train delay this morning....so we threw him a graduation on the train."

While someone played Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," the student's friend acted out a graduation ceremony with him as the whole train car watched and congratulated the college graduate. His friend pulled up something on his phone to act as a diploma, and Alcantara told the audience, "If you want a copy of my diploma, turn on your Airdrop."

In the Facebook comments, Alcantara explained that, if the trains had worked properly, he would have gotten to the ceremony at least 45 minutes early. But when the train's emergency brake went off, he was stuck underground for two hours before another train came to rescue the stranded passengers.

"It wasn’t so much an idea, but something that just happened," Alcantara told Select All of the train ceremony. "Everyone was getting antsy and impatient, so I figured I’d lighten the mood by thanking everyone for coming out. That led to applause, and the rest just followed."

He said he still tried to make it to the official ceremony once finally off the train, but it had already ended.

"So I missed the commencement, but after the auditorium cleared out, my close friends threw me my own little graduation," he told Select All. "It was a great time."